The Chronicle of Halo Wiggins
by Benedict Dragonpatch
Summary: All Harry Wiggins ever wanted was to follow in the footsteps of his world-famous namesake and attend Hogwarts School for witches and wizards. But all is not what it seems for young Harry, who must learn the secrets behind his unusual abilities. At least everything will be fine when he gets to Hogwarts... won't it?
1. Chapter 1

Thank you so much for checking this out, it means a lot to me that you would take the time to check this out. This story tries to stay as close to canon as it possibly can, anything that is changed is done so only when JK Rowling herself didn't clearly state it one way or the other. Special thanks to her, of course, without whom this story simply wouldn't be possible.

Thanks again,

Andrei

Chapter 1 A Late Letter

July 31st promised to be a cheery day, clear and warm. Temperatures all over England had spiked to record levels, and there was even talk of clear skies across all of Scotland; a thing that was very nearly unheard of. The city of London lay in a murky haze in the early morning hours when nothing moved through the streets save a few stray cats, for whom no hour was too early. One such nameless cat looked up from her meal of discarded tuna salad and observed a curious sight—a few dozen owls flying out of an old, abandoned building that both humans and animals knew to avoid. It was common knowledge to all, even cats, that the building was unsafe—a leftover shell that had been the site of a great fire or some such calamity. The cat watched curiously for a few moments as the owls separated, each one flying off in a different direction. It was unusual behaviour to say the least, but the cat decided it was none of her concern and returned to her meal. After all, the tuna salad wasn't going to eat itself, and owls were known to act strangely.

A few miles away, a young boy lay in bed, looking at his alarm clock that showed the time in huge red numbers. 4:43 was rather early, but he was so excited that he couldn't sleep. Cassy had said the letter would come today, and he had been waiting for so long! He had been eleven years old for more than a month, but for some reason he hadn't received... Cassy had told him not to worry, though, because sometimes they didn't send the letters out until the end of July. Well, that time had finally come, and he was much too excited to sleep when he knew there was a letter for him on its way. After all, Harry Lawrence Wiggins was a wizard, and was finally, _finally_ old enough to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

As Harry lay in bed, he thought of everything he had ever heard about Hogwarts from Cassy and his mother, getting more and more excited from just thinking about it. The school was the most magical, wonderful, amazing place in the whole wide world… everyone said so. Cassy had written letters nearly every week her first year, and Harry had read them over and over and over again. She hadn't written quite as much her second year, but Harry's parents had said that was just because she was so busy with schoolwork. He knew that wasn't true, though, his sister had just been too busy having fun to bother writing to him. Harry had been really angry, but that was months and months ago and he had no reason to be upset anymore. After today, they would be going to school together, and none of that would matter! In a few days they would probably go to Diagon Alley, or maybe even Hogsmede, to get his school supplies. Harry was so excited that sleep was completely out of the question.

At least, that was what he had thought. However, not a minute later Harry found himself unable to stay awake. He'd barely slept at all the night before, and it was finally catching up with him. Maybe it was just his tiredness playing with his mind, but all of a sudden Harry began to feel a bit nervous, thinking that maybe something would go wrong. There was no doubt he belonged at Hogwarts, he wasn't a squib or anything... but still. Harry had used magic before, although he had never been able to cast a real spell or anything like that. Cassy said that was a good thing, that he would get in trouble for using any real magic, and that he needed to wait until he was older. Well, thought Harry tiredly as he struggled to stay awake, eleven was quite old enough. Letting his fears slip away, Harry drifted off to sleep, dreaming fantastic dreams about Hogwarts.

Next thing he knew, Mother was shaking him awake, a smile on her face. "I thought you would be awake already," she said a pretty smile, "Breakfast is ready, Little Bean."

Harry scowled at her, careful not to give her the impression that the nickname was in any way acceptable. There was no way that anyone else in the whole world had a name as embarrassing as that. He was too excited to stay angry for long, though, and he was ready in less than a minute. He jumped down the steps, tripping slightly and landing at the bottom in a tangled heap. He didn't care, of course, but Father said, "Easy there, sport, don't go injuring yourself."

Harry smiled mischievously and sat down beside his sister, who was buttering herself a piece of toast. Breakfast was always excellent on the days when Mother didn't have to go into work early. Father scrolled through _The New York Times_ absentmindedly on his tablet as a frying pan emerged from the kitchen and served two pieces of bacon each of them, all on its own. Father didn't even give the frying pan a second glance, despite the fact that he had not been born into a world of magic. Derrick Wiggins was a muggle, an American in fact, and he liked to say that he came to England looking for a job and ended up finding a whole lot more. He had met Olivia Boot at a bar in Tottenham, and, completely unaware that she was a witch, had fallen madly in love her. It had taken her weeks, but eventually she had fallen for him too, and that love had managed to survive the inevitable strain that exists in a marriage where only person can use magic. Harry knew little of this, for he was still too young, but Cassandra Wiggins knew or guessed most of it. She was very bright for her age, and spent most of her time asking questions and demanding to know all sorts of things. It was not easy raising a Ravenclaw.

Mother emerged from the kitchen with a smile while Father moved from _The_ _New York Times_ to _The London Times_ before finally putting down the tablet and picking up a paper with a big headline on the top that read _The Daily Prophet_. It was nothing like a normal newspaper, the front page was dominated by moving pictures of people on broomsticks.

"Must be a slow day, if England losing to Eritrea is front page news..." muttered Mother, who had never much cared for Quidditch. Cassy groaned as she read the story upside down, muttering to herself about terrible seeking. Harry's sister was absolutely obsessed with Quidditch, badgering their parents all summer to get her a broomstick so she could try out for the Ravenclaw House Quidditch team. Harry liked the wizard sport too, but he had never been very good at it and he could never muster the energy to feel upset when England managed to find spectacular ways to lose to rubbish opponents.

Harry was happy and excited all through breakfast, but the morning quickly passed without any owls arriving and his good mood soon faded. Cassy kept glancing at him nervously, but Harry pretended he didn't notice. Mother seemed uneasy as well, but she had to get ready for work, so she couldn't just sit around all morning and shoot him anxious looks the way his sister did. Mother managed an apothecary on Diagon Alley, and Harry knew that business was really busy this time of year with everyone getting ready to go to school. Everyone, it seemed, but him.

Mother was about to head off to work when the door rang and Cassy hurried off to open it. Father had flipped the TV on to watch QPR play (and probably lose). Harry didn't care about football any more than he cared about Quidditch, and so he didn't join his father, even though he usually jumped at the opportunity to spend time him. Father worked hard as a defence attorney, and Harry usually didn't get to see him during the week, not even during the summer. Still, Harry wasn't a little kid anymore; eleven was quite old enough to spend more time alone. After all, when he was at Hogwarts he wouldn't see his parents for months and months. He didn't want to get lonely and have everyone make fun of him for missing his parents.

Harry was deep in the kind of thought that eleven year olds think when Cassy returned with Uncle Terry, who smiled and gave the boy one of his usual warm, exaggerated bear-hugs. He seemed to be in good spirits as usual, but Harry could feel that something was wrong when they broke apart. Uncle Terry was more nervous than Harry had ever seen him. "You kids run along upstairs now, I have to talk to your parents for a moment," Uncle Terry said, his eyes betraying the unease that his smile was trying to cover.

"But―" began Harry, sure he could convince Uncle Terry to let him stay. After all, his Uncle had never said no to Harry before.

"Nope, let's go," Cassy said firmly, dragging her little brother behind her towards the stairs as Mother emerged from the kitchen, looking upset.

"Wait... ouch... what's—" Harry yelped, trying to get someone's attention. He failed, and Cassy dragged him all the way to the bottom of the stairs before turning to face him.

"Shut it, you," Cassy whispered, "I've got a plan. Don't worry, we'll find out what they're saying, and no one will ever know. Follow me, Halo, and keep quiet."

Harry knew better than to argue with his sister, and didn't even complain that she called him Halo. He didn't like that nickname much either—he thought it made him sound like a girl—but he knew this was important so he kept quiet and followed Cassy up the stairs. The children crept into their father's study, which sat right over the dining room.

Cassandra Wiggins had never much cared for authority, and she positively hated secrets. About a year ago, she had carved a little hole right underneath her father's desk through which a pair of Weasley Brand Extendable Ears could be lowered, and any supposedly private conversation taking place in the dining room could be easily overheard.

Harry waited impatiently as Cassy pulled the Extendable Ears out of the pocket of her jeans, and tied her long blonde hair behind her so it wouldn't get in the way. Getting in the way was what Wiggins hair did best. Harry's wild blond hair was nearly as bad as his sister's, whatever his hair lacked in length it made up for messiness. He brushed his own hair out of his face impatiently and crouched beside his sister, listening intently as she lowered the hearing device through the floor to listen to what his uncle had come to say.

"I don't understand," Father was saying, sounding agitated. "How could this happen?"

"I honestly don't know," Uncle Terry said, "I don't think anyone else would have noticed, but I know how excited Harry was and when I saw... well, I came straight here."

"But there's nothing wrong, he has just as much magic as we did at that age," Mother said, her voice stained, almost as if she couldn't speak. "This, this just can't be happening," she snapped, as angry as Harry had ever heard her.

"Olivia, please," Father said, "I'm sure there's a simple misunderstanding, there's no reason to overreact. Everything will be fine."

"You wouldn't understand," said Mother, using the voice she used only when she was really upset. "I love you, Derrick, but sometimes you're such a Mugg-"

"Olivia, stop it," snapped Uncle Terry, and Harry got nervous. He hated when people fought, and everyone seemed really upset. What had he done to upset everyone?

"You-you're right, Terry. I'm sorry, dear."

"It's fine, Olivia, darling, I know you're upset. Terry, you were saying."

"His name didn't go out today, and I couldn't understand why. There's no reason he shouldn't get a letter, especially if _she_ got a letter. I thought there must be some sort of mistake, so I went over to the Department of Education and asked around. Padma helped me get to the bottom of it... she always rather liked me."

"Yes, yes, you're very handsome, get on with it," Mother said irritably.

Uncle Terry took a deep breath, as if whatever he was about to say was difficult. "Olivia, your son, he doesn't... he doesn't have the Trace on him."

Harry looked at Cassy, who just shrugged back at him. Apparently, she didn't know what that meant any more than he did, but his parents did. Mother gasped and said, "But that―that's..."

"Impossible?" Asked Uncle Terry, "That's what I thought. Anyways, the Director of Education and the Headmistress have been informed. I don't know what they're going to do, but until they make a decision, Harry won't be able to go to Hogwarts."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Interested Questions

Nothing seemed real to Harry as he shot to his feet and ran out of the room, ignoring his sister's look of shock. He raced down the stairs and into his parent's arms, who looked alarmed that they had been overheard. They were not, however, terribly surprised. Uncle Terry and Father stayed and comforted him, telling him not to worry and that everything would work out just fine while Mother went to go find Cassy, no doubt to scold her for letting him overhear. Harry cried and cried, feeling devastated and utterly confused. He was a wizard, how could he possibly not be allowed to attend Hogwarts? He had dreamed of it his whole life, and it was all he'd ever wanted. It just wasn't fair.

Harry was too exhausted and upset to do anything except cry, watch some TV, and eventually go back to his room. The house sounded as if it was full of people coming and going, but everyone left him alone and he didn't care much what was going on. He wasn't going to Hogwarts, which of course meant his life was over. He would have to learn how to live as a muggle, which actually wasn't any different from how his life was now. He had gone to primary school with all the other muggle kids (Father had insisted) and they would probably just make him do that while Cassy and her friends learned how to be witches and wizards. The thought made him angry and sad, but after all those tears in the morning Harry refused to cry any more. He wasn't a little boy, he was _eleven_, and so he just stared at the wall in brooding silence.

The day passed slowly into night, and Mother tried to get him to eat something. He ignored her completely, refusing to speak or even look at her until, at last, she left him alone. He glanced at his alarm clock as the hours passed away. Around 10pm everyone went to bed, and Harry could no longer hear the sounds of people talking downstairs. An hour passed, and another, and Harry found that he was no closer to falling asleep. Very quietly, he heard his door creep open and his sister slipped inside. She rushed over to him and sat beside him on his narrow bed, hugging him closely while he cried a little bit more. He couldn't help it; it was almost as if he had been waiting for her to come, even though he didn't want to see anyone. Cassy was different, she always had been. She was the best friend he had ever had, and when they were younger they had shared everything. Now, though, it felt like there was this massive wall growing between them. She was going to be a witch, and he...

"They can't do this, Halo," Cassy said firmly, stroking his shaggy mess of hair, "You're a wizard. They can't keep you out of Hogwarts; it's just not fair."

"Maybe there's something wrong with me." Harry said in a hollow voice. "Maybe I'm not good enough."

"No, that's not it!" Cassy said firmly, shaking him slightly, "You are absolutely good enough! Don't ever think that, Halo, and don't give up. Everything will be alright."

Harry didn't answer, but he didn't find her words all that reassuring. Cassy was the smartest person he knew, but even she didn't know what was going on. It just made no sense. If there was nothing wrong with him, then why wasn't he allowed to go to Hogwarts? That's why it had to be his fault somehow. He must have done something bad.

"Do you want me to tell you a story?" Cassy whispered in his ear, still hugging him close. Almost instinctively, Harry nodded, for he had never said no when his sister offered to tell him a story. "Tell me about Hogwarts," Harry commanded softly.

Cassy hesitated. Clearly that wasn't what she'd had in mind. Harry arranged his face into a look of determined stubbornness and his sister relented.

"Well, you see, the castle is very old," Cassy said, making Harry laugh a little. That was how Uncle Terry also started his stories about Hogwarts, and the children always liked to imitate him. "It was founded a very long time ago by the four greatest witches and wizards who ever lived."

"What are their names?" Harry asked, although he already knew the answer. The only problem with Cassy's stories is that she tended to skip things, especially if she had told the story before.

"Quiet, you," scolded Cassy, her wide smile barely visible in the dark room. "Anyways, their names were Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar-"

"Boo!" interrupted Harry, prompting his sister to whack him gently on the top of the head,

"I said be quiet, Little Bean,"

"Don't call-"

"Shut it or I'll stop talking," threatened Cassy, although they both knew she wasn't actually angry.

"Fine."

"And Salazar Slytherin, and they were all good friends," continued Cassy, as if nothing had happened.

"Why were the others friends with Slytherin, he's the bad guy!"

"I don't know, Halo, that part isn't in Hogwarts, a History. It was a very long time ago, I'm not sure anyone knows. Anyways, the four friends decided to build a school; a place where wizards could be safe from the world at large. At that time muggles hated and feared our kind, and they did whatever they could to kill us."

"Why?"

"Wow, you're full of questions today, Halo. There are a lot of possible reasons. It could have been jealousy, or it could have been fear. Wizards can be dangerous, and not all muggles are as understand or forgiving as Dad."

"So they built a castle called-"

"Hey, I'm telling the story, Harry Lawrence Wiggins! But yes, they built a castle called Hogwarts, and they each took students who they liked best. Gryffindor took the bravest and most courageous, as well as bunch of knuckleheads who don't know when to quit."

"Hey, I thought the Gryffindors were the best. Everyone says so, after all wasn't Dumbledore himself in Gryffindor... and wasn't..."

"Harry Potter?" Cassandra said, looking at her brother closely. Their parents had named her brother after the legendary Boy Who Lived, and they weren't the only ones. Many thought he was the greatest wizard alive today, and Harry was probably the most common name in the whole wizarding world. Well, in Britain anyway. Anyways, Harry absolutely worshipped his namesake. He would probably follow James Potter around school like a blond puppy if he knew Harry Potter's oldest son was at Hogwarts. Cassy had never mentioned it to her brother—James Potter was far too full of himself as it was.

"Anyways," she continued, "It's Ravenclaw, who is actually the best." (Harry snorted) "Ravenclaw taught those of superior intellect, believing that the wisest and smarted witches... and wizards I suppose... made the best students."

"Nerds," muttered Harry, mostly just to irritate his sister.

"Both Mother and I are Ravenclaws, and so was Uncle Terry, who fought beside Harry Potter at the battle of Hogwarts, as you well know!" said Cassy, truly irritated for the first time. Harry was slightly cowed, and muttered, "And the other founders, what did they value?"

"Hmph, well Helga Hufflepuff valued a stout heart and a determined spirit, for she believed that magic took focus and perseverance above everything else. Bathilda Bagshot speaks highly of her in Hogwarts, a History, but that's only because she was a Hufflepuff herself. Most people like to make fun of them, which isn't entirely fair, especially when there are the..."

"Slytherins," finished her brother angrily.

"Well, it is said that Slytherin valued cunning and ambition above everything else, but as we all know he also cared about blood status. The thing that Slytherin truly cared most about was teaching the children of pure-bloods, preferably people with many generations of wizard parents. He didn't believe that people of muggle birth should be taught at all, because he thought that they were somehow inferior to wizards who had two wizard parents."

"That's what Voldemort believed, that's why he killed people, isn't it?" whispered Harry.

"That's right, Halo," Cassy said quietly. Of all the stories she told him, his favourites were always about the Dark Lord and the band of heroes, led by a young Harry Potter, who'd finally defeated him. Much of the wizarding world still feared to his name, nearly twenty years later, but the younger generation of children had been born largely free of that fear. Voldemort was a bogeyman to them, not anyone who could actually hurt them and their families.

"Voldemort was a Slytherin, as were nearly all of Death Eaters who followed him. I heard someone say that Voldemort was descended from Slytherin himself, although I'm not sure if that's true or not."

"I bet it is," Harry said angrily, "Why do they even let that house continue? They're all bad, every one of them."

"I don't know," Cassy replied honestly. She didn't really know any of her fellow third-year Slytherins well, but they were most an unpleasant lot. And she had certainly had her fair share of run-ins with certain Slytherins. "Maybe you can ask Headmistress Sprout when you get there."

"Do you think I'll really get to go?" Harry asked, his eyes full of sadness and fear.

"Yes, Halo," lied Cassy, "I'm sure of it. Now go to sleep, I'll stay here until you drift off."

As Harry lay beside his sister, slowly falling asleep, thoughts whirled through Cassy's mind. She had no idea what the Trace was, or why her brother hadn't received a letter from Hogwarts. All in all, though, it sounded very serious. She wasn't sure what a thirteen-year-old girl could do to solve this mystery, but she certainly wasn't going to sit by as her brother was forced to live as a muggle. She would think of something… tomorrow.

Together, the two children drifted off to sleep.

That was how their mother found them the following morning, sleeping gently side by side. It was a tender sight, but Olivia Wiggins was too anxious to fully appreciate it.

"Harry, dear, there as some people downstairs to see you. You too, Cassandra, although you are just to say hello and then leave them alone so they can talk to your brother."

"But Mum!" protested Cassy fiercely while her brother slowly rubbed his eyes.

"You have caused enough trouble, young lady, so don't argue!" Replied Olivia Wiggins sternly, and Cassy decided not to protest... at least not yet. As soon as Harry was ready, she followed her brother and her mother down the stairs and into the sitting room, where two people were sitting, chatting idly with her father, who looked very nervous to be in such company. It was immediately obvious why, for sitting in their kitchen were two of the most famous people in the world, Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt and, more importantly, the Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Hermione Granger.

Cassy almost fainted, but managed not to pass out as Hermione smiled kindly at her, although it was a near thing. Harry, for his part, didn't recognize the woman, because he had never seen her in person before. He was nervous enough, though, to have the Minister of Magic himself was staring at him.

"Hello, young Harry, please sit down," said the Minister of Magic in a deep, calm voice that had weakened only slightly over the years. Minister Shacklebolt had led the wizarding community in Britain for nearly 20 years, and the strain of it seemed to finally be catching up with him. His face was covered with wrinkles, and he was slightly stooped now. His face was still cheerful, though, and he smiled warmly at Harry as he indicated the seat opposite him. Harry stared at the Minister's bald head, his lined face, and his golden earring from a moment before remembering his manners and doing as he was told.

"I am the Minister of Magic," Kingsley said deeply, as if anyone could possibly have confused him for someone else, "And this is Mrs..."

"Hermione, Hermione Granger!" said Cassy breathlessly, turning slightly pink as everyone turned to look at her. She hadn't been thinking, and had just rudely blurted out whatever was on her mind and interrupted the freaking Minister of Magic. She stammered an apology, but neither of the Ministry officials seemed terribly concerned. Hermione looked a tiny bit embarrassed by the girl's reaction but handled it with grace, saying kindly, "Actually it's Hermione Weasley now, but there's no need to apologize. We are here to talk to your brother Harry, for he is... in a bit of an unusual situation."

"Hogwarts," blurted Harry suddenly, unable to keep the anxiety out of his voice. "Will I be allowed to go?"

Mrs. Weasley and Minister Shacklebolt exchanged looks that Harry didn't understand, but after a moment Hermione Weasley smiled kindly at him and said, "Yes, you will be allowed to go. There has simply been a slight mix-up, and we have a few questions for you." Seeing the look on his face, she added, "Oh, you aren't in any trouble, Harry. It's just that there's a few unusual things about your situation, and we were hoping you might be able to tell us."

Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He was so relieved. He was going to Hogwarts after all!

"Right, well, please excuse me, Minister, I need to head out to Diagon Alley, and purchase some new school supplies... and a broomstick for my daughter." Mother said, looking meaningfully at her husband. "Come along, Cassandra."

Cassy looked on the verge of arguing, but her desire for a broom eventually trumped her desire for information. Harry didn't really want her to go, but he was too intimidated to argue. Now that he knew who the woman was, he was finding it hard not to stare at Hermione Gr-Weasley. She was basically a superhero in his mind; she and her husband Ron Weasley were Harry Potter's closest friends, and they fought side by side with him against Voldemort. Now here she was… and she wanted to ask him some questions!

Mother and Cassy left, his sister giving him one last, reassuring smile before disappearing out the door. "Apologies Minister, Mrs. Weasley," Father said, "Our daughter is far too curious for her own good, she would probably try and get to the bottom of this herself, thinking she was smarter than the whole Ministry." Mrs. Weasley gave a knowing little laugh that she tried to cover with a cough, and after a moment she said, "So, Harry, you were born on the 21st of June, 2006, is that correct?

Harry nodded and saw that Mrs. Weasley seemed to be thinking hard, "Have you been able to use magic?"

Harry again nodded, saying, "I turned that chair over there into a bush... and once I blew up a piece of cake when Cassy wouldn't share." He wasn't sure if they would be mad at him, but neither Mrs. Weasley nor the Minister seemed concerned.

"Hmm," Said Minister Shacklebolt, "Was there anything unusual surrounding his birth?"

"No, nothing." Father said quietly, "I don't understand, what you are trying to determine?"

"Your son doesn't have the Trace, something that all wizards and witches are born with. It is incredibly complex magic, quite possibly the oldest spell still operating in the world." Mrs. Weasley said very quickly, as if answering questions was second nature to her. "The Trace, among other things, allows us to detect the use of underage magic."

"More importantly," continued the Minister of Magic, "It identifies the presence of magic in children of muggle parents. The spell attaches itself to a witch or wizard at birth, and remains in effect until he or she comes of age. Without the Trace, it would be very hard to locate muggle-born witches and wizards and invite them to be educated at Hogwarts. The Department of Education works with the school these days and sends owls to all the children who would be attending Hogwarts this upcoming year, and you were not in the registry, Harry. It is unusual, unheard of in fact, for a wizard under the age of seventeen not to have the Trace, which is why no one noticed it until now. We didn't know to look for it, or that it was even possible."

"Since we discovered that you didn't have the Trace, we have been going through the records, trying to see if there are any more anomalies like you." Mrs. Weasley continued quickly, as if this were exciting. "We haven't found anyone, so for the time being you remain unique, Harry."

Harry looked back and forth between the Minister and Mrs. Weasley, trying to think of what he should say. "I-I don't know why I don't have the Trace, I didn't do anything!"

"We know that, Harry," Hermione Weasley said kindly, "But all the same, we need to keep a close eye on you, just in case."

"In-in case what?" Harry asked, panicking slightly. Was he a danger to those around him? Was he contaminated?

"Don't worry, young Harry," The Minister said in a low, reassuring voice, "It is probably nothing. We will simply keep track of your progress, but unless we see something unusual there is nothing to worry about." He reached into the folds of his purple robes and pulled out a letter, handing it to Harry. "Welcome to Hogwarts, young man."

The cloud of panic and doubt that had settled over his mind yesterday finally began to lift, and Harry tore the letter open eagerly, unaware of Mrs. Weasley and Father talking in low voices nearby. The Minister of Magic himself gave Harry a reassuring pat of the shoulder and rose to his feet to check with one of his Aurors, who apparently had been standing guard out front. Harry glanced briefly at the confident-looking young female Auror before turning back to his letter and read:

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

Headmistress: Pomona Sprout

Dear Mr. Wiggins,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the Fall Term of 2017. Enclosed is a list of books and materials you will be needing for the upcoming year.

Term begins the first of September. The Hogwarts Express will leave from platform nine and three-quarters in King's Cross station, London at eleven o'clock. Your ticket is enclosed. We look forward to meeting you at the start of term, and welcome to Hogwarts.

Yours Sincerely,

Elmander Evergreen

Deputy Headmaster

Harry didn't even pause, he immediate continued on to the next piece of paper containing the list of things he would need for school. Cassy had already gone with Mother to get them all, but he kept staring that the list, as to remind himself that it was all real.

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

**Uniform**

First-year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)  
One plain pointed hat  
One pair of protective gloves (dragonhide or similar)  
One winter cloak

Please note: Dress robes are optional, but students are encouraged to have formal attire on hand.

**Course books**

All students must have a copy of the following:

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_ by Miranda Goshawk  
_A History of Magic, Revised_ by Bathilda Bagshot and Tacitus Sneezle  
_Magical Theory for Beginners_ by Adalbert Waffling  
_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore  
_Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, Revised_ by Emeric Switch and Minerva McGonagall  
_Magical Draughts and Potions for Beginners_ by Arsenius Jigger  
_Introduction to Defence Against the Dark Arts_ by Leucadius and Alyzeus Clearwater

**Other Equipment**

All students must have a the following:

1 wand  
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size)  
1 set glass or crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set brass scales and small potions knife

Students may also bring an owl, rat, toad or cat. Any other animal will only be allowed by the express permission of the Headmistress.

Students are encouraged to bring their own quills.

Parents are reminded that first years are not allowed their own broomsticks.

Finally there was nothing more to read, and Harry blinked and came back to reality. When he looked up he saw that the Minister was gone, and nervously he wondered if he had been rude not saying goodbye. Hermione Weasley sat down opposite him again and said, "I will be assigned to monitoring your case personally, I hope that is alright with you." She said in a friendly tone.

It was more than okay with Harry, who couldn't believe that he was actually talking to one of his heroes. He was feeling much better, but he still had a shadow of unease in the back of his mind.

"Mrs. Weasley..."

"Please, call me Hermione,"

"Er, alright. Hermione, are you sure there's nothing wrong with me?"

Hermione looked at him for several seconds in silence before saying. "You're a little unusual, Harry, but nothing dangerous. You know, when I was your age I knew another boy named Harry, and he had was a bit unusual too. I think he turned out all right, and so will you."

Harry smiled at her and finally let his anxiety melt away. If Hermione said everything was going to be alright, then he believed her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 The Wand Chooses the Wizard

The rest of the summer could not have passed any slower for Harry, who impatiently counted down the days until September First. Mother had absolutely forbid him from discussing his conversation with Hermione with his sister, something that frustrated Cassy to no end. She was so angry with him that she didn't let him come with her to the broom flying arena in Hogsmede, where the public could go and fly around without having to worry about muggles seeing them. She went there nearly every day to practice on her new Nimbus L7, one of the newest models available. She used so much Floo powder travelling to Hogsmede every day that when Mother finally took Harry to Diagon Alley to buy his wand during the last week of August, she had to stop by KwickTravel Depot to grab more.

Harry loved Diagon Alley; it was so full of magic and excitement. Today there seemed to be a number of foreign wizards, traveling in a tour group. No doubt they were there to see the memorial to those killed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, which stood outside a building that Mother said had once been an ice-cream shop. A number of the foreigners also seemed to be heading for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, the most popular store in all of Diagon Alley. Harry desperately wanted to go there and just look around, but Mother refused, insisting they hurry up and buy his wand. She and Cassy had gotten all his other supplies weeks ago when the Minister of Magic had first cleared him to attend Hogwarts, and his wand was the only thing he had left to get. Harry was certainly excited to finally have a wand of his own, but he wished Mother would let him explore a bit.

Ollivander's Famous Wandshop was located in an isolated corner of Diagon Alley, almost hidden in shadow. It was not a large building, and there was a faded sign above the entrance that read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 B.C. Harry entered the shop nervously and Mother followed.

A little bell rang as they entered the shop, and a few moments later a very thin, middle aged woman with large blue eyes appeared. "Good day," She said neutrally, "I am Cordelia Ollivander. Will you be needing a wand?"

Harry nodded silently, and the woman immediately began measuring, or rather the tape measure began measuring on its own while Mrs. Ollivander made a few notes. When the magic tape measure was finished Mrs. Ollivander disappeared appeared amongst the stack, returning moments later with a small box.

"Eleven and a half inches, birch and unicorn hair," announced Mrs. Ollivander, "Flexible and good for transfiguration. Go on, young man, give it a wave."

Harry did so, and immediately the room filled with purple light, shining beads of light danced and skipped off the walls. Mother's mouth dropped open and even Mrs. Ollivander looked a little surprised. "My, well, it seems that the wand has indeed chosen you, Mr. Wiggins. That will be..."

"Wait a moment!" Came a quiet voice from the back, and a very old man made his way slowly into view. He was leaning heavily on a cane, and was wrinkled and stooped. His eyes were bright though, and they sparkled as he surveyed Harry, who felt as though the old man was looking under his skin and into his mind and soul.

"Father, I have this under control," the woman said, sounding slightly sulky.

"No, Cordelia, I do not believe that you do," the man replied in a whisper, which seemed to be as loud as his voice went. "I am Mr. Ollivander," he said, directing his attention to Harry, "and that is not the right wand for you, young Harry Wiggins."

Harry had no idea why—the wand seemed to respond perfectly to him—but after a nod from his mother he handed the wand back to Mr. Ollivander. Mother seemed as confused as he was, but she regarded the ancient man with a kind of reverence, so Harry decided it was best to just do what he said. They tried a few more wands, and each one performed perfectly for him. One sent a shower of rubies out of the tip, while the one after it turned the counter-top before him into solid gold. Mother watched with a kind of shocked fascination, as if unable to believe what she was seeing. Harry was surprised as well, but he hadn't really known exactly what to expect. If it weren't for the reactions of his Mother and Mrs. Ollivander, he would have even known that anything unusual was going on. After a wand caused foot high grass to sprout across the entire floor, Ollivander began pacing back and forth, muttering to himself silently. His cane seemed forgotten in his agitation, and Harry watched him nervously. Had he done something wrong? Would Ollivander tell the Ministry that there wasn't any wand for him, and then the Minister would have no choice but to force him to stay at home? At last Ollivander turned to his daughter and said, "Cordelia, would you fetch the import please, the green box."

Mrs. Ollivander's eyes widened, but she did not argue. The whole shop was quiet until she returned, for Mother seemed distracted, she just kept staring at the counter that Harry had turned into gold. Harry wanted to ask what was going on, what he was doing wrong, but he couldn't seem to find his voice. At last Mrs. Ollivander returned with a green box. Inside was a curious looking wand of white wood that twisted rather than remaining perfectly straight.

"This wand was actually made by a colleague of mine in Egypt," Ollivander said quietly, "It is made from the wood of a sycomore tree and the powdered teeth of a sphinx. I do not use sphinx teeth, myself, but we should see if this has a different result. Take it, Mr. Wiggins."

Harry hesitated, but gingerly he reached out and took the wand. The moment he touched it, a warm feeling spread through his arm, as if he were relaxing near a blazing fire. It was a wonderful feeling of power and possibility. The wand reacted immediately, a red band of light shot out of the tip, twirling in the shape of a sphere about a foot away from him. Half a second later, an orange band of light followed the red, followed by yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. A sphere of rainbow light floated in the air before him for a few seconds, before vanishing into nothing. At last Mr. Ollivander seemed satisfied, saying, "Well, it seems that I have been waiting for you for quite a long time, Mr. Wiggins."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Harry asked as he glanced nervously at Mother, but she seemed too shocked to say anything.

"I received that wand over seventy years ago, when I was a very young man. I have never been able to sell it, however, for it refused to respond to any of the wizards who tried to use it. Sphinx teeth is amongst the most unusual magic ingredients that can be put into a wand, but as a result such wands tend to be incredibly temperamental. If this wand will work for you when it refused everyone who has come before, even the Dark Lord himself, then you are quite a special young man, Harry Wiggins."

Harry had no response to that, and neither did his mother, who was as flustered as he had ever seen her. "H-How much for the wand?"

Ollivander turned his penetrating eyes on her and said, "Olivia Boot, yew and dragon heartstring, ten and three-quarters inches." He said it as if it were instinctive. "This wand is free of charge, for it was a gift many, many years ago, and I am most pleased that it has found a home. Good day to you." Without another word, Mr. Ollivander walked slowly to the back of the shop. Mrs. Ollivander looked just as confused as they were, but she cleared her throat after a few moments and said, "Well... er... Thank you for coming. I hope... hope to see you again."

"Yes, thank you," Mother said, finding her voice at last. "Thank you for everything." She led Harry out of the shop, his new wand in a box under her arm. She was very quiet as they made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron and took the Floo Network home.

"Wait, so you turned the counter into solid gold?" Cassy asked incredulously later that day, giving him a look clearly indicating that she didn't believe a word of it.

"That's what I said," muttered Harry, annoyed by his sister's dismissive attitude. "You can ask Mother if you don't believe me. I'm telling you, my wand is something special."

"I tried! I tried to ask her about it," protested Cassy, "but you know Mum. She wouldn't let me see the wand and she told me off for asking too many questions. It's as if she finds me annoying!"

"Imagine that," Harry muttered, loud enough for her to hear. She shot him a filthy look and left the room to go watch some television with Father. When she was gone, Harry regretting getting upset with her, wishing that his sister could tell him what it all means. Harry wanted to look at his wand, maybe hold it a little, but Mother said he wasn't to do magic before he got aboard the Hogwarts Express. Apparently she didn't trust him enough to give him his wand until then, which he had to admit was probably a good idea. He wasn't sure the he could resist the temptation to see what his wand could do. He got excited thinking back on it, the rush of power he had felt as he touched the wand... There was something special about that wand, he just knew it, and it had chosen him.

Over the next couple of days, Harry tried to talk about what it could mean with Cassy, but she didn't seem to believe him. She spent nearly all her time either flying in Hogsmede or visiting her friends all across the United Kingdom. Nothing was really that far away for a wizard, especially when all you needed to do was step into a fireplace and shout your destination. Mother complained about Cassy's frequent absence, and Harry heard her muttering about it to Father one morning as Harry entered the kitchen. "She'll see them all soon enough, but she won't be able to see us until Christmas."

"She's a thirteen-year-old girl, dear, and she's going to do whatever she wants to do," Father responded reasonably, helping Mother chop up crocodile tail so she could brew her usual anti-migraine potion. Father couldn't do any magic, but he liked to say he could cut ingredients up as well as anyone. Both Mother and Cassy suffered from bad headaches, and Mother wanted to make sure Cassy had enough potion to take back with her when school started up again. Harry tried to back out of the room slowly before she noticed him, but unfortunately Mother saw him almost immediately and enlisted his help too.

The last few days of summer were insufferable, for Mother tried to spend every possible moment with him, coddling him to an indecent degree. She made him come with her on every errand, and seemed to want him around as much as possible. It got annoying very quickly, but Mother seemed completely deaf to Harry's frustration. Cassy seemed delighted by this, all the more so because she mostly managed to cleverly avoid Mother's clinging.

"Oh no, sorry, I can't go to the owl post with you and Harry. I have to finish my History of Magic essay on the persecution of wizards in Medieval Europe," Cassy said brightly as Mother tried to drag her along on yet another boring errand.

"But term starts tomorrow!" Mother said crossly, "You shouldn't leave things to the last minute."

"You're right, Mother," Cassy said, solemnly, "and I promise never to do it again."

Mother left in an exasperated huff, and Harry turned to his sister and said, "You finished that essay weeks ago, didn't you?"

"Oh, I didn't lie," Cassy said with her usual wide smile, "I haven't _quite_ finished it yet. You see, I can't get the final sentence to sound just right..."

And so Harry had to go alone with Mother to send a get well card to old Professor Flitwick, who had retired some years ago and was not feeling well. It was so incredibly boring that Harry decided it would be better to wait outside, where there were fewer owls. He told Mother where he was going, but he wasn't sure she heard him. She was too busy talking to an old, stooped witch whose hearing seemed so poor that Mother had to repeat everything she said twice. An owl screeched loudly, nearby, and Harry picked up his pace, trying to get out of there as fast as he could. It wasn't that he was afraid of owls... not really, but he preferred not to be near them if he could help it.

Harry was so distracted that he walked right into someone without even realizing. "Oi, watch where you're going, little man," said a voice, and a big hand helped him to his feet.

"You could pay more attention yourself, Ron." said a familiar voice, tinged with more irritation that he had ever heard it. "Oh, hello Harry, how are you."

Harry tried to respond, he really did, but he couldn't stop starring at Ron Weasley, who looked rather concerned that he had caused permanent damage to the boy by walking into him. "You reckon he's alright, dear?" Harry heard him whisper to his wife.

"He's fine," Hermione said, a bit amused by the whole thing. "He's just surprised to see you, that's all. Harry Wiggins here is... a bit of a fan."

"Wiggins, the boy you were talking about?" Ron asked, but Hermione just nudged him in the ribs in an exasperated sort of way. "Oh right, er, hello there, Harry, how are you doing?" Ron Weasley said, holding his hand out for Harry to shake.

"Uuuh I'm fine," Harry managed to say, his voice very high, unable to believe he was actually shaking hands with Ron Freaking Weasley. Ron seemed a little concerned by Harry's reaction, as if wondering what sort of spell was responsible for his peculiar behaviour, but Hermione gave Harry a quick hug and said, "I'm glad to see you. I wanted to make sure everything is going all right so far."

"I-I yes, everything's good," Harry said in that same high voice. Then he remembered the wand and everything that'd happened at Ollivanders. Should he tell Hermione about that? Would she want know about that sort of thing? Before he could say anything, two more people came through the door—a girl with red hair and a boy a few years younger than Harry with bushy brown hair that made him look taller than he really was.

"I was wondering where you two wandered off to. You're as bad… well… as bad as we were at your age," Ron said, smiling affectionately at his children and fondly messing with the boy's bushy hair.

"Sorry, Daddy," the girl said, but she did not look at her father. Instead she studied Harry with her bright blue eyes. Harry wondered what she was thinking, for she gave off the impression of someone who was very clever.

"This is Harry, children, Harry Wiggins. Harry will be going to Hogwarts tomorrow, just like you, Rosie," Hermione said kindly. "Harry, these are our children, Rose and Hugo Weasley."

"Hi," Harry said, not sure what he should do with his hands. He stuck them in his pocket, hoping he looked cool. If he did, no one commented on it.

"Hello," Rose said, smiling slightly, "It's nice to meet you."

"What house are you going to be in?" Demanded Hugo suddenly, and Harry could tell that the subject of Hogwarts was a sensitive one in the Weasley household. Harry remembered well the feeling of seeing his sister go off to Hogwarts knowing he had to wait another two years.

"Well, I want to be in Gryffindor, but I guess I'll probably be Ravenclaw, my whole family is." Harry said, "But it's not like you get to choose, right."

Rose nodded, and Harry could see that she was troubled, like he was, about Sorting tomorrow. It hit him like a thunderbolt... tomorrow night he would be sorted his house. He obviously wasn't going to be in Slytherin, but what if he got put in Hufflepuff or something like that? He didn't want to be a Hufflepuff for seven years...

"Oh, hello Olivia, how are you?" said Hermione as Mother came over. Another round of introductions followed, and then a little bit of grown up chit-chat. Rose didn't say anything, listening intently to what her parents were saying, despite the fact that it wasn't even remotely interesting. Hugo kept watching Harry with undisguised resentment in his eyes.

"I have an older sister, too. She's going into her third year now." Harry said, and Hugo stopped looking so resentful.

"How was it, staying at home when she was...?" Hugo asked, drifting into silence. He looked half-angry, half-sad, and he seemed to be close to tears.

Harry considered lying, but he quickly decided not to. "It was rubbish, and I hated every minute of it. But you'll be going soon, too."

"Two whole years!" groaned Hugo, who seemed perfectly friendly now that they had something in common. "That's basically forever."

"Well in two years you'll join me and your sister in Gryffindor, you'll see." Harry said, and was relieved to see that Hugo looked slightly happier. Harry tried his best to make people feel better, but he wasn't always sure of the best thing to say. This time, he seemed to have gotten it right. Rose smiled at him, and Harry knew that she had been listening to the conversation as well as her parent's. It made him feel good, as if he was doing the right thing.

"Well, we have to get going; it was nice to see you both," Mother said at last, grabbing Harry's hand before he could protest. Hugo sniggered at Harry's embarrassment, but Rose didn't seem to notice. She just smiled at him again and said, "See you tomorrow, Harry."

"Um, bye," was all Harry could say as he unsuccessfully tried to get his mother to release his hand. He didn't have much success, and Hugo's laugh burned his ears as he and mother left the owl post. He was very surly with her the rest of the day, and when the morning of September First dawned Harry couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts—anything, really, to get away from his mother.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Aboard a Train

The first day of September was always a very strange day at King's Cross station, though very few people were there often enough to notice it. It was only the veteran security guards, the ones who had been there for years and years, that knew that the beginning of September brought innumerable people dressed in strange clothes, pushing all manner of exotic luggage. Tobias Crumbsworth had worked security at Kings Cross for more than 30 years, and he knew that, every year like clockwork, September 1st ended up being the strangest day of the year. Why, a few years back he'd seen a family pass through, trolley cart piled high with 3 or 4 owls (awake in broad daylight!) and what looked like a mongoose. He had almost asked to see their permit, but had decided it wouldn't be worth the trouble. There was no point making trouble on September 1st, because it was always the same. There must be some sort of convention of weirdoes in Coventry or Dover or some such place, for those were the trains that left around 11am. This year was no different, Mr. Crumbsworth could see as he looked up sleepily from where he was dozing by the wall. A family walked right past him, all wearing pointy hats, and he could see the eldest boy was holding a broom in his right hand. What in the blazes was he going to do with that, sweep the floor of the station? Muttering to himself about weirdoes and freaks, Tobias Crumbsworth leaned back against the wall and drifted back to sleep.

"Hurry up, Halo," Cassy said irritably to her brother, "Heather won't wait for me, she wants to sit next to Charlie, which won't be easy since he always sits next to..." There was more, but at that point Harry stopped listening. He didn't know how anyone could care so much about who they sat with on a lousy train ride, but then again he wasn't a girl. Still, he didn't want his sister to be mad at him, so he did his best to keep up as she practically flew through the station. They had gotten a bit of a late start (which wasn't really his fault).

Their destination soon came into view, and there seemed to be a bit of a line to get onto platform Nine and Three-Quarters. A number of families were chatting casually between platforms 9 and 10, waiting for their chance to surreptitiously slip across the nearby magical barrier unnoticed. The problem was a curious looking young muggle boy, who was staring at the owl and cauldrons of the gathered wizards with keen, intelligent interest while his mother dozed nearby, completely unaware of her son's curiosity. As they joined the crowd, Cassy stamped her foot in frustration. Harry was a bit amazed that all these wizards could be beaten by a curious muggle boy. It seemed to him that there ought to be a better way to do this.

"Right, well I've had enough of this," Harry heard a tall, friendly looking black wizard say to his wife.

"Lee, what are you going to do?" His wife asked, a worried expression on her face.

"Don't worry, dear, _Suggesto_," The man said, waving his arm subtly. Immediately a nearby homeless man stood up and began walking through the crowd. He had a slightly wild look in his eye, and began speaking loudly saying, "T'end is near! Have you heard? Have you heard the news? The end is comin'! The time's a come to repent, repent and beg forgiveness for you sins!"

The man began making his way through the station, talking louder and louder. Muggles shied away from him, including the mother of the boy who had been staring at them, who took the boy's hand and walked quickly to another part of the station. Everyone was watching the man as the called on them to repent for their sins, and the wizarding families used the distraction to slip onto nine and three-quarters unnoticed.

Harry was a bit troubled by the way that muggle had been used, but it was soon forgotten as he followed Cassy through the wall and to the train beyond it. A wondrous sight greeted his eyes, a gleaming red train surrounded by mist and steam. He had dreamed of the Hogwarts Express so many times over the years, and he could scarcely believe that he was actually here. Everywhere around him, he could hear snippets of conversation by wizards and witches, and Harry just stood there taking it all in with a smile on his face.

"-and so, as I told the minister, there was no greater priority than the regulation of fireroot imports-"

"-can't believe they lost to Eritrea, too! Manager Davies will be sacked for sure-"

"-You like these robes? I got them for an absolutely steal in Denmark-"

"-you'll write me every day, won't you?"

"No, absolutely not, Scorpius. You are not a child, so you cannot expect to be coddled. Now stand up straight and..."

Harry turned at the sound of that last conversation and saw a haughty looking blond man talking to his young son, who was clearly the same age as Harry was, though he looked much smaller. The boy seemed close to tears, and man looked rather annoyed. Troubled, Harry turned away, filled with a powerful desire to find his own parents. They weren't far away, Cassy was hugging them goodbye, looking noticeably more serious than she usually did.

"I'll watch him, don't worry." Harry heard his sister whisper as he came up, "I'll see you both for Christmas."

"Take care, darling, I love you," said Mother, her eyes misty. Cassy permitted both her parents to kiss her on the cheek and then disappeared into the crowd to board the train. Harry hesitated for a moment, then ran forward and hugged his Mother closely. He hoped no one was around to see, because he was close to tears. He wouldn't see his parents for months and months, he had never been away from them for so long. Anxious thoughts bubbled up, making him feel uneasy. What if no one liked him? What if he was too stupid to make it?

"Shh," whispered Mother, who seemed as though she could almost read her son's thoughts. "Everything will be fine, and you'll have a wonderful time. Keep in touch, and we'll see you for Christmas, Little Bean."

Harry nodded, and he turned to give his father a big hug. "Try and keep your sister out of trouble, if at all possible," Father said, sounding almost amused. Harry nodded faintly and jumped slightly as the whistle blew behind him.

"You'd better get going," Mother said, kissing him gently on the top of the head. "Have a good term."

Harry nodded one last time and hurried up onto the train while his father helped him lift his trunk, with his wand safely packed away, on board. Almost at once, the train began moving, and his parents gave him one last wave and disappeared from sight.

Young witches and wizards were everywhere, running back and forth along the corridors of the train, but no one paid him much attention. He walked past full compartments, filled with everyone from tall, intimidating 6th and 7th years to other 1st years, who looked just as out of place as he did. Halfway back along the train, Cassy emerged from a nearby compartment, which looked completely full of fellow third years.

"You okay, Halo?" Cassy said, smiling at him with her usual, wide smile. "I'd invite you in, but it's a little packed in there."

"It's okay, Cassy," Harry said, not wanting to hang around with a bunch Cassy's friends who would just know him as _Cassy's Brother_. He needed to make his own friends. His sister seemed to understand, she was quite clever that way, and squeezed his arm reassuringly,

"If you need anything, you know where to find me," said Cassy, and Harry nodded gratefully.

"Hey, Wiggins, you want to join us?" Called a boy from a bit further down the hall. He had long black hair that seemed to stick out at all angles, although it was possible that he made it look that on purpose. Cassy gave the boy a dismissive look before disappearing back inside her own compartment without even bothering to respond. The boy, who looked vaguely familiar, did not look pleased by this, but turned to Harry and said, "Who are you?" His tone wasn't angry, he seemed genuinely curious, if a bit rude.

"I'm Harry, Harry Wiggins," Harry said.

"James Potter," replied the boy, watching him closely. Harry got the sense that he was testing him, to see what sort of reaction he would have to James' name. Harry thought he handled it rather well, concealing his waves of shock and just nodding casually and saying, "Hi."

"Is that Harry?" called a familiar voice from inside the compartment, "Tell him to come in."

James didn't seem particularly surprised and smiled slightly, saying, "You heard my cousin, better come in. There's no real point trying to argue with Rosie."

Harry didn't really mind, in fact he was overjoyed that he had been invited to sit with the children of his favourite wizards and witches in the whole world. Rose smiled up at him, a book in her hands. James flopped down beside her, muttering something about books that Harry didn't quite catch. That left him to sit beside another boy who hadn't yet said anything. He looked so much like James that Harry had no doubt that the two were brothers, which meant that this boy was also the son of Harry Potter.

"I'm Harry, Harry Wiggins." Harry said politely to the boy, who nodded slightly at him.

"I heard," the boy replied, "nice to meet you." He sounded troubled, but held out his hand politely and said, "Albus Potter."

"Al is gonna be in Hufflepuff, just wait and see," James said at once, making his brother's ears burn red.

"Shut your fat mouth," Albus shot back at James, who just laughed.

"There's nothing wrong with the 'Puffs, they need their share of average students..."

"I said shut it!" Yelled Albus again, rising to his feet, his hands curled in a fist. Harry didn't know the boy hardly at all, but somehow he couldn't see Albus actually punching his brother. James apparently thought the same, for he just got up laughing and made his way out of the compartment.

"Well, little bro, I gotta go see my mates a couple of compartments back. See you at Sorting. Later, Rosie, Wiggins." He gave a lazy wave and left, leaving Albus standing there, breathing hard. Harry waved, a bit confused by the way James acted. He could understand teasing your sibling, he had plenty of practice with that, but he and Cassy never said things _that_ mean to each other... did they?

"Git," muttered Albus under his breath, sitting back down. Rose gave him an exasperated look and said, "You really shouldn't listen to him. He just says things because you let it bother you."

Albus scowled but didn't say anything, instead pulling out a GBEL Quidditch magazine and disappearing behind it. Harry was unsure of what to do since he was in a compartment with two people reading, but after a moment Albus seemed to remember that he was there and said, "Hey, Harry, you like Quidditch... or are you a muggle-born?"

"No, his mother is a witch, I met her," Rose replied, before Harry could open his mouth.

Albus caught his eye and said, "I don't worry about it, she just says whatever she wants whenever she wants, she likes to hear herself talk." Harry felt the corners of his mouth twitch into half a smile while Rose glared at her cousin, disappearing back behind her book again.

"Mental she is," whispered Albus quite audibly, rather enjoying himself. In response, Rose threw the book across the compartment and somehow managed to hit Harry in the nose. No doubt she was aiming for Albus, but she didn't seem to have particularly good aim.

"Oh no, I'm sorry!" Rose said apologetically as Albus laughed his head off. Harry just grinned at her, rubbing his nose a bit. It didn't really hurt, he was mostly just surprised.

"It's fine, you've got rotten aim though," Harry said, and pretty soon all three of them were laughing.

"Your family is rather..." Harry said after the giggling stopped

"Violent?" interrupted Albus.

"Mental?" interjected Rose.

"Unstable?" supplied Albus, and the three of them started laughing again.

"We have about a thousand cousins," Rose said. "Family gatherings get a little out of control."

"Plus, our parents are a bit famous," Albus said, his voice slightly strained, "There's..."

"A lot of pressure," finished Harry, understanding immediately. He had felt that same feeling of fear when he thought he was going to Hogwarts, the thought he had let everyone who cared about him down. It had been awful, but how much worse would it be for these two, especially Albus? His Father was probably the most famous wizard in hundreds of years, there were statues to him all over England. As cool as it must be to be the son of Harry Potter, it couldn't be easy. All in all, it was rather impressive that these two were as normal as they were.

Harry bent down to pick up the pick that Rose had thrown at him and was a little surprised to see that it was actually a comic book entitled Adventures of Merlin and Arthur the Muggle. He gave Rose a startled look as he handed it back to her.

"What?" Rose demanded, a little defensively, "I like comics."

"That's fine," Harry said quickly, not wanting to upset. She might have poor aim, but all the same he didn't want her throwing books at him if he could avoid it. "I just thought you'd be reading..."

"A textbook or something like that?" Rose demanded, eyes flashing slightly, "I'm not my mother!" She glared viciously at him, though he wasn't sure why she was so upset, and disappeared back behind her comic. Harry glanced at Albus, who shook his head sadly, as if it weren't the first time he had seen Rose yell at someone unprovoked. Harry gave a little sigh and sat back down in his seat.

They were all quiet for a while, Albus moved over to let Harry read the Quidditch Magazine with him. Harry didn't really find it that, especially since his favourite team, the South London Banshees, were headed for a bottom of the table finish. Sighing, he looked up and say that Rose wasn't actually reading her comic anymore, instead she was looking out the window. She didn't seem upset anymore either, just distracted. Albus noticed it too and said, "What's up Rosie?"

She jumped slightly, unaware that the two had been watching her. "Oh, I... It's nothing."

"Thinking about Sorting?" Albus guessed, and she nodded slightly, not looking at either of them.

"You heard what my dad said... If I'm not in Gryffindor he'll disown me," Rose said miserably.

"He was just kidding, you heard what Mum said," Albus said. He paused, clearly thinking about something. He glanced at Harry, who couldn't tell what the boy was thinking about.

"Listen, my dad said something before I left," whispered Albus, leaning in towards Harry and his cousin as if what he was about to say were some big secret, "He said that the... the Sorting Hat talks to you."

"Yeah, that's what my sister said too," Harry said, and Albus looked reassured that someone else backed up the story. "Well, he told me... Dad said that if you don't want to be in a certain house you can just, well, tell it."

"Tell it," repeated Rose, "tell the hat."

"That's what Dad said," Albus said, sounding like he might be on the verge of getting upset.

"Alright, alright," Rose said quickly, "It's probably worth a try." Albus looked at Harry, who nodded reassuringly. Harry believed him, and it made a certain sense. There would be no point in putting someone into a house where they didn't belong, right?

After about an hour, the lunch trolley came around and Harry and the others bought tons of sweets, including Harry's personal favourite Wicked Weasley Weasels, which were weasel-shaped gummies that were always either much too salty, much too spicy, much too sour, or much too bitter. Albus and Harry took turns eating the disgusting things while Rose looked on in disapproval, as if she couldn't believe anyone could be so stupid as to eat more than one of them.

Harry felt a bit sick the second half of the ride, which seemed to thoroughly amuse Rose. She and Albus talked about their upcoming classes while Harry did his best to keep his mouth shut and not throw up. Albus and Rose compared wand lengths (apparently they hadn't gotten them together) and discussed what Mrs. Ollivander had said.

"You should have seen old Mr. Ollivander when Dad entered the shop, came out of the back room and bowed to him and everything." Albus said, turning to Harry. "What about you, Harry, where's your wand?"

"Oh... it's a bit... unusual." Harry said, nervous to discuss it with them despite the fact that he had tried very hard to talk about it with Cassy for days. Rose and Albus just stared at him curiously, and he had no choice but to reach into his trunk and get it out.

When he pulled out his wand, Rose gasped and Albus gave a soft wow, and for a moment Harry thought he'd done magic without meaning to. But nothing had happened; the others were just staring at the twisted, white wood that curled around itself, a sharp contrast to their own straight wands.

"Blimey, that's cool." Albus said, his voice full of jealousy.

"I've never seen anything like that before, what is it?" Rose said, studying it as if it were a science project.

"Erm, I think Mr. Ollivander said that it was sycomore wood and sphinx teeth."

"Sphinx teeth?" asked Rose, her eyes slightly unfocused as if she were thinking too quickly to see straight, "I've never heard of a wand made with sphinx teeth."

"Ollivander said it was an import, from Egypt I think. I don't really know what happened, but he said it was special or something."

"I reckon he's right, Dad always said that Ollivander knew wands better than anyone else." Albus said, as if that settled the matter. Rose disappeared back behind her book, but kept glancing at Harry curiously. He found her staring rather uncomfortable, and was happy an hour or two later when James returned. He seemed to have a black eye, as if he had been fighting, and said, "You lot should get changed, we'll be there pretty soon."

"What happened to you?" Demanded Rose, sounding suddenly stern.

"Oh nothing, just a couple of Slytherins," James said dismissively. "Nothing to worry about. Hey, nice wand, Wiggins," he added with a nod, spotting the wand lying in Harry's lap.

"Uh, thanks," said Harry, but James was already gone. Rose glared at Albus, as if it were his fault that James had been fighting. Albus ignored her, and said to Harry, "Guess we should go get changed. Can you believe it? We're..."

"Almost there," finished Rose and Harry together. It was automatic; they had all basically had the same thoughts their entire lives. There was less than an hour to go, now, and they would all be students at Hogwarts.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Sorting

When the Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogsmede station, there was the usual hustle and bustle that accompanied several hundred students trying to disembark a train at the same time with limited adult supervision. Harry found himself separated from Rose and Albus, shuffling along with a group of first years that he didn't recognize. One of them he had seen before, actually, the little blond boy named Scorpius. The boy stood in the doorway of the train and look around at the station in wonder until an older student pushed him from behind and said, "Move it, you little moron." The boy flushed and hurried off the train, followed moments later by Harry, two giggling girls, and a tall Asian boy who looked like a first year. Harry saw the boy was looking at him as they made their way across the platform and said, "Hello, My name's Harry Wiggins."

"Sora Takahashi," replied the boy, with a hint of an accent. "Pleased to meet you."

"Where are you from?" Harry asked curiously, trying to place the boy's accent. He loved learning about other parts of the world. After all, Mother said there were wizards everywhere, not just in Britain.

"I am from Miura, Japan," Sora said, as if it were a minor detail.

"Oh," was all Harry could think to say, sounding remarkably lame. He had never met anyone from that far away before. Sora had come all the way here to study magic at Hogwarts? This must all be so strange to him. "Do, er, you like it here?" It sounded lame even as he said it, but Sora didn't laugh at him, instead he said, "It is very different, but I am honoured to have the opportunity to study amongst you."

"Uh, right," Harry said, knowing he was doing a pretty terrible job of sounding interesting. Before he could look any dumber he heard a loud voice call, "Firs' years, Firs' years over this way."

Harry turned and saw a huge man who could only be Rubeus Hagrid, the famous Hogwarts Gamekeeper who had been at school as long as anyone could remember. His hair and beard were completely grey, but other than that he didn't seem like a particularly old man. He waved a tall lantern merrily, attempting to attract as many first years as he could. Harry thought it was probably a tad unnecessary, given that only a blind person would miss Hagrid in a crowd.

"Everyone here?" Called Hagrid after the other students had gone off to where the horseless carriages were, somewhere below the platform. Harry knew that was where Cassy would be, chatting happily with her friend. He was a bit sad that he hadn't seen her as he was getting off the train, but it was silly to worry. After all, he didn't need his big sister to help him out, he could do this just fine on his own. "Well, let's go then. Boats are this way," Hagrid said to them all before he strode off, followed closely by Albus and Rose, who seemed not at all intimidated by Hagrid's immense size.

"Hagrid, James was lying about the Giant Squid, wasn't he?" Albus said, his voice louder that he had probably would have intended.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry abou' tha', she knows not ter attack students," Hagrid said, waving his big hand dismissively. Not at all reassured, Rose and Albus exchanged nervous looks. Beside him, Harry could see that little Scorpius looked positively terrified. Only Sora looked unconcerned, walking on Harry's other side with purpose. Harry couldn't help but admire the boy—he seemed so cool. Harry did his best to mirror Sora, moving his arms in the same sort of way and trying to get his face to show that expression of controlled indifference.

They reached the boats and Harry found himself sitting with Sora, Scorpius, and a tall girl with short, rather spikey brown hair. She ignored the others completely staring out across the water. Harry half wanted to ask her name, but he was too intimidated by her stony expression to speak up.

No one said anything as the boat floated out across the water. Harry stared down at his own reflection, he thought his blond, messy, mop-like head of hair looked ridiculous with his black robes, and wondered if he should maybe cut it. He often went back and forth on what to do about his hair, especially since he thought it also looked silly when it was short.

"Yeh'll be able ter see it in a secon'," called Hagrid from the lead boat, and sure enough when Harry looked up there it was before them. Hogwarts Castle shone out in the darkness; innumerable lights and lanterns gleaming from high towers and broad walls. Harry gazed in wonder, and he heard Scorpius beside him mutter a soft wow. Sora said nothing, his expression completely unchanged as he gazed up at the castle. The short-haired girl didn't even look up, instead she just kept on staring out across the water as if it were more interesting the sight of their new school.

The boats sailed closer and closer, and Harry was so excited that he felt as though he might actually explode. Suddenly Scorpious screamed behind him, and Harry turned to see a giant tentacle covering the little boy's head like a huge, disgusting hat. Then there were tentacles everywhere, two or three of them feeling out Harry's arms. He stayed quite still, trying his best to appear unconcerned like Sora, who was gazing at the tentacles around him in mild interest. The girl in the front smacked the one tentacle that came near her, as if it were annoying her, and after a few seconds the tentacles disappeared beneath the waves, leaving behind nothing but a bit of slime on Scorpius's head. Harry resisted the urge to laugh at him, but only because the boy was clearly terrified and Harry didn't want to make him feel worse.

They arrived soon later, and, although no one said anything to them, Harry thought he heard a few chuckles coming from the students in the other boats as they pulled into a dock far below the school. "E'ryone still here, no one got eaten? Good," Hagrid said, in what was clearly in attempt at a joke, although no one laughed. Instead, Harry was pretty sure he heard Scorpius whimper quietly beside him.

"Well, righ', let's get yer up ter the Deputy Headmaster," Hagrid said, leading them up through the cold dungeons. At the top of one of the stairs they met a bright eyed teacher, who looked to be in his early forties, though he had the demeanour of a younger man. The man smiled at them as they approached and said in a clear voice, "Good evening, first years," the man said, "I am Deputy Headmaster Evergreen. I am will be your potions master in the coming years, and am also the head of Gryffindor House. If you'll follow me, please, it is nearly time for the Sorting Ceremony." Hagrid waved at them all cheerily and winked at Rose and Albus before disappeared through another corridor.

Professor Evergreen led them up and up through the dungeons until at last they emerged through a large set of oak doors and into the entrance hall with a tall staircase that led up to the higher levels of the castle. Harry thought they were about to enter the Great Hall and panicked slightly, positively terrified at the prospect of sorting beginning _right now_. It was about to start, everything was about to be decided. What if...?

His train of thoughts was interrupted as Professor Evergreen led them into a small classroom right beside the Great Hall. As he opened the door, there was a large farting noise and the professor sighed, as if he should have known better.

"Peeves, leave this room immediately, or I will have to curse you," Professor Evergreen said wearily, directing his words at a man floating upside down above the blackboard. He was wearing and dizzyingly colourful outfit and a fiendish smile. Harry's sister had warned him about Peeves the Poltergeist, who caused more problems than everyone else at the school combined, living or dead.

"Meanie mean old Greenie," cackled Peeves, gliding past Professor Evergreen and dropping chalk dust on a few of the students before disappearing with a mad laugh. Albus seemed to have gotten the most chalk dumped on him, and he looked as though he had been lightly floured. Harry caught Rose's eye both of them did their best not to laugh too loudly.

"Wait here, please. The ceremony will begin shortly," Professor Evergreen said as he left the room, closing the door behind him smartly. Everyone seemed a bit surprised at the sudden departure of authority, and after a brief pause most of the students began talking to the person next to them.

"Hullo, my names Annie Trout, parents are both office workers in Newcastle," one of the two giggly-looking girls that Harry had seen earlier as she turned to him and smiled shyly.

"And I'm Shandra, Shandra Higgins," added the dark-skinned girl beside Annie, who sounded like she had bit of a Jamaican accent. Harry thought she had the prettiest brown eyes he had ever seen. "I guess I'm what people call a muggle-born too. Blimey, this is all so strange."

"I'm Harry Wiggins, and my Mum's a witch, but even so this is all pretty strange to me, too," Harry admitted, trying to make the girls feel at ease. "My house is nothing like this place."

"Glad to hear it," Shandra said, sound a bit relieved. "I was afraid we might far behind."

"Hey, Shandra, you guys are a lot alike, Higgins and Wiggins... it's sooo cute!" Said Annie, giggling annoyingly. Harry didn't know what to say, and felt himself blush slightly from embarrassment. Thankfully, Professor Evergreen had returned, and, after getting their attention, he began to speak.

"The Sorting Ceremony will begin momentarily, but there are a few basic things you need to know first. The four Houses at Hogwarts are Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. Each house has its own long and distinguished history, and I am sure that you will all be outstanding members of whatever house you become a part of," Professor Evergreen paused, and Harry looked over at Shandra and Annie, both of whom looked a bit overwhelmed by all the information. "While you are at Hogwarts, your house will be almost like your family away from home. Each has its own dormitory and its own common room, and your behaviour in class and beyond will either earn or cost you points for your house. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the House Cup for that year. The particulars will be explained to you later by your prefects after you have been sorted. Now, if you would all follow me, it is time to begin."

The students shuffled out after Professor Evergreen, but no one faster than the girl with spikey hair who had sat near Harry on the boat. She walked straight up to Professor Evergreen, whispering softly and urgently to him. The Professor frowned slightly, but the girl kept speaking, looking very determined. At the entrance to the Great Hall, Professor Evergreen nodded, and the girl fell back in line looking as impassive as she usually did. "If you would follow me, the Great Hall awaits," Professor Evergreen said, leading them inside with a faint smile.

Harry promised himself he wouldn't gasp or gape up when he entered the Great Hall, and he just managed it, though only because Cassy had told him what to expect. Hundreds of candles floated above him, illuminating a massive hall with four long, broad tables, one for each house, and a staff table at the far end. The ceiling seemed as though it were not there, and despite what Cassy had said over and over again about how it was enchanted to look like the night sky above, Harry had a hard time believe there was actually a roof up there at all and that it didn't simply open into the night. The place was filled with students, most of whom were talking loudly and staring at the first years as they made their across the hall to the staff table.

On a little stool, a few feet in front of the staff table, sat a large black hat, so beaten and battered that Harry was amazed that it was still in one piece. It looked as if it might have been burned, and there was a large hole in the front that was so large Harry could have put his arm through it. It didn't look particularly impressive, and Harry wondered if the beat-up old thing was really qualified to make such an important decision. The first years gathered around the little table, and Professor Evergreen drew a scroll out of the folds of his robes, made a quick notation with his quill, and called for silence. Most of the students ignored him, falling silent only after a loud voice cleared its throat. Harry looked around to see who was speaking, and was a bit surprised to see it was the hat itself, the large hole seemed to double as a kind of mouth. Once silence had fallen, more or less, the hat began to speak... or rather to sing.

_Come gather 'round young children,  
__And listen to my song.  
__For I'm a hat for sorting,  
__The place where you belong._

_A thousand years, or maybe more,  
__Upon this stool I've sat.  
__Let me see what's in your mind  
__For I'm the smartest hat._

_It could be you're a Gryffindor,  
__Who never runs from danger.  
__Who lives a life both brave and bold,  
__And always helps a stranger._

_Perhaps you are a Hufflepuff,  
__Who'll toil 'til the end.  
__A loyal and sturdy one,  
__Who gives all you have to spend._

_You might just be a Ravenclaw,  
__With a mind that has no match.  
__You never rest from learning,  
__With answers left to catch._

_Or will you be a Slytherin,  
__With a soul so full of cunning?  
__Your subtle mind and crafty skill,  
__Will send you rivals running._

_Just put me on and have no fear,  
__I'm wise as any tome.  
__Trust in me and you will see,  
__I'll find you your true home._

When the song ended Harry was still staring at the hat in shock, and so was a little late in joining the rest of the school in clapping. Cassy hadn't mentioned a song, it seemed strange that she would leave out a thing like that. Knowing her, she probably left it as a little surprise for him. With a grin on his face, Harry turned around to look for her at the Ravenclaw table, but before he spotted her Professor Evergreen read the first name and Harry had to turn his attention back to the hat.

"Atkins, Cecilia." called Professor Evergreen, and a short blonde girl stepped forward nervously, sitting on the little stool and slipping the hat over her head. The hat sat there for about fifteen seconds, silent and shabby, before bellowing, "RAVENCLAW."

The room politely applauded, a few cheers came from the Ravenclaw table. Cecilia Atkins hurried over, and Harry saw his sister move over to make room for her. It could be his imagination, but it almost looked to Harry as if Cassy was saving a place for him, just in case.

Sorting took very different amounts of time, depending on the witch or wizard being sorted. Sometimes it was nearly immediate, like when Julie Bones was sorted into Hufflepuff, and sometimes it took several minutes, like when Danny Corlin was sorted into Gryffindor. Harry couldn't tell for sure, but it seemed as though very few people were being sorted into Slytherin, and looking over, it rather looked like Slytherin had fewer students than the other houses. Serves them right, though Harry to himself.

"Crabbe, Samantha." Professor Evergreen said, catching slightly at the name. The tall girl with spiky brown hair came forward, nodding to the Professor slightly as if he had done what she asked. The room went strangely quiet, and Harry looked over at Rose to see her eyes narrowed slightly, watching closely as Samantha put on the hat. After only about ten seconds, the Hat bellowed out, "SLYTHERIN," and the girl strode off, not at all concerned that she received far less applause then anyone before her had.

Harry watched her walk over the other Slytherins, wondering if she knew the reputation the house had or if she was completely unaware of its association with Dark Magic. He lost track of the next few names, coming back to himself as he heard Shandra Higgins be sorted into Gryffindor. She gave him a faint smile as she passed him, and Harry felt slightly confused.

More names passed, and no one else seemed to be sorted into Slytherin, at least not until the Professor called, "Malfoy, Scorpius." The room went quiet again, and over at the Gryffindor table Harry saw James Potter say something to the cool-looking boy sitting next to him. Both nodded, and looked back at the Sorting Ceremony with unfriendly looks on their faces. Malfoy was sorted into Slytherin after only a few seconds, And Harry though the boy looked positively relieved as he set of towards the Slytherin table, looking much smaller than everyone else there.

Harry didn't recognize most of the names, but following alphabetically he knew who was coming next after Valerie Parsons hurried off to join Hufflepuff.

"Potter, Albus," called Professor Evergreen, and Harry wished he was close enough to whisper good luck to the boy. Albus walked forward nervously, and Harry could have sworn he saw Albus's mouth move underneath the hat, although it sank so low that it was impossible to tell for sure. It didn't take long, maybe 20 seconds, for the hat to call out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The applause was the loudest it had been all evening, and Albus set off to sit beside his brother with a huge smile on his face. After Albus, Helen Powers became a Ravenclaw while a tall, scary looking boy named Kevin Reese and horse-faced, mean looking girl named Courtney Stubbs both became Slytherins. Harry wanted to glare at them, but was distracted by the name, "Takahashi, Sora." The Sorting Hat took a very long time placing Sora, it must have been nearly five minutes before it shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Harry almost couldn't believe it; someone as cool as Sora had no business being in Hufflepuff. The boy didn't seem to mind though, he bowed low to the staff table (which drew a fair amount of laughter from the Hall) and headed over to sit beside the other Hufflepuffs.

Annie Trout was next, joining Shandra at the Gryffindor table after less than a minute. The Gryffindor table certainly looked fuller than the others, and Harry wondered if the hat would listen to him if he asked to be put there instead of Ravenclaw. He loved his sister and his family, but he had already made some friends amongst the Gryffindors and would much rather stay with them, if he could.

Carla and Francesco Vieri were both sorted into Ravenclaw, and as Harry Warren was being sorted Harry saw that only he and Rose were left. She smiled faintly at him, trying to hide her anxiety, and instinctively he went to stand beside her so that he could whisper good luck when they called her name. Harry Warren was sorted into Hufflepuff, but as Professor Evergreen looked down to call Rose's name the doors of the Great Hall flew open with a bang, and a number of people filed quickly in. Everyone was shocked, and Harry didn't even notice who was leading them until he opened the man opened his mouth and said, "Sorry about this, Headmistress, but we need a word."

"Mr. Potter," replied the Headmistress, an old witch with short grey hair and a long, slightly dirty hat. "This is highly irregular."

"I know, Headmistress Sprout, but this cannot wait." replied Harry Potter firmly. He seemed to indicate someone standing behind him, but Harry couldn't really see well enough to know what he was talking about.

"Ah, I see," the Headmistress said, sounding very tired. "Yes, you had best come up here and tell me what this is all about."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Unusual Circumstances

Harry Potter walked straight up to the staff table, accompanied by Hermione Weasley, a severe-looking man Harry didn't know, an old man and an old woman that Harry also didn't recognize, and a young girl with long dark hair who looked almost as old as Harry. He wondered who she was, since she obviously wasn't his age or else she would have come with them aboard the Hogwarts Express. Rose looked as shocked as he did to see members of her family, and she stared at her mother so hard that it looked like she was trying to read her mind. The Headmistress did not lead the party away, deciding that they could speak in private right in front of the staff table. After all, the students were all talking so loudly that they stood no chance of being overheard. The only students who were even remotely close enough were Rose and Harry, both of whom seemed to realize it at exactly the same time. Without speaking, the two crept slowly closer, doing their best to ensure that no one noticed them eavesdropping.

"-despite that, I don't think that she should be allowed to come. She could very well be a danger to everyone at this school," Harry Potter was saying firmly.

"The law is quite clear," said the old man wheezily, "She is guilty of no crimes, and therefore cannot be barred from Hogwarts."

"The headmistress can ban whomever she wishes, it is her decision alone," said the severe-looking man, looking at the older gentleman, who Harry figured was a lawyer, with extreme dislike.

"But you can't, she's done nothing wrong," said the old woman, speaking with the strength and authority of someone much younger. "I know her, I practically raised her these past four years. She deserves her chance, just like everyone else."

"Mrs. Tonks, I'm sorry, but there's no telling what sorts of things she might be capable of," Harry Potter said, seeming hesitant to disagree with the woman. "You said it yourself, and so did Teddy. He told me that she has these strange moods..."

"Yes, but—" the lawyer tried to say.

"And there could be some hidden spells, remnants of things that haven't been activated yet," Harry continued, ignoring the lawyer and staring at the old woman. "Don't forget," he said very quietly, "I was there, I saw what she did to this girl, her own daughter... Your own..."

"That is quite enough, young man," said Mrs. Tonks, and Harry was surprised to see his namesake fall into an uneasy silence.

"What about you, Hermione," said Harry Potter after an uneasy silence. "What do you think?"

"Well," Hermione said, speaking very carefully, "I think no one has asked her what she wants. I think... I think that is the most important thing."

Harry Potter didn't look happy, but slowly he knelt beside the girl with black hair and asked, "Well, is there anything you want to say?" He sounded a bit harsh, and perhaps realizing it added, "Do you, um, want to come to Hogwarts?"

The girl didn't speak, but she nodded slowly, looking at her feet as if she didn't want to meet anyone's eyes. Harry Potter and Hermione Weasley both looked troubled but unsurprised, while Headmistress Spout just looked sad.

"You know I value your advice, both of you," the headmistress said to the two of them. "What would you do if you were in my position?"

"You can't let her in, you know who she is, who her parents are!" The severe man said angrily, daring someone to contradict him.

"Being related to a Death Eater is not a crime, Director," Hermione said quietly, and the man scowled at her and walked away muttering. Harry Potter just looked at Mrs. Tonks, who stood looking down at the girl beside her.

"You told me once, that your debt to me could never be repaid," Mrs. Tonks said, turning to face Mr. Potter.

"I did," Harry Potter replied, his face so white that the lightning scar stuck out on his forehead vividly.

"Well, you can begin now," the old woman said firmly, "She should be allowed to attend school, so long as she can keep herself under control. There is no reason for her to be barred before she gets a chance to try. However, she cannot be cleared without your authorization, for you were the leading Auror on the scene."

Harry Potter did not respond, he simply gazed into the old woman's face. "Please, Harry," said Hermione quietly beside him. "Just let it go."

"Alright, fine," said Harry Potter reluctantly. "I give my permission, and my recommendation, Headmistress." He did not sound at all pleased, and swept away from the table, followed soon after by Mrs. Tonks and the lawyer. The talk from the students in the hall grew even louder as everyone tried to ask the person beside them what was happening, as if their neighbour could possibly know more than they did. Professor Evergreen talked with the Headmistress for almost a minute, as if he himself was confused as to what was happening.

Hermione looked over and seemed surprised to see Rose and Harry standing nearby, although her lips arranged themselves in a rather understanding smile.

"You two heard everything?" She asked, directing the question to her daughter, who nodded.

"Well, I doubt even you could figure out the whole truth, Rosie," Hermione said with a sigh, "Though I dare say you'll have a head start on the rest of the students. They'll be talking about this, that's for sure," She said, almost to herself.

"Well, I'll stay and watch you two get sorted, but then I have to be off," Hermione said, focusing on them again. Rather than look reassured, the fact that her mother would be watching seemed to make Rose feel a little sick. Harry smiled at her reassuringly, but she seemed more nervous now than ever before. Hermione looked up suddenly, as if she had just remembered something, and turned to the Headmistress, who was still speaking with Professor Evergreen. In a breathless voice, Hermione said, "I can't believe I forgot what this will mean for Ne―"

"I know," replied the Headmistress with a frown, "I will... do what I can for him, but it will not be easy."

Hermione nodded, still looking troubled. "Well, good luck you two," she said, leaving only the new girl standing in front of the staff table, a few feet away from them. The girl didn't look up or move at all, she just stood there, so still that she could have been petrified.

"Attention, ATTENTION!" Called Professor Evergreen loudly, and slowly people began to quiet down. "We have, er, a late addition to the class, and she will be sorted now, out of order." That was so unusual that the whole room fell completely silent, waiting breathlessly. Harry looked around and saw Hermione talking in a low voice to Harry Potter, who waved cheerily over at him. Wait no, he wasn't waving at him, obviously the other Harry was waving at his niece, who rather nervously waved back. Professor Evergreen cleared his throat, and after a pronounced pause called, "Lestrange, Clytemnestra."

Several people gasped, including Rose, who looked as though she couldn't believe her ears. Harry didn't gasp, but only because it took him a moment to figure out why that name was familiar. Then with a jolt he remembered. Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband Rodolphus had been amongst Voldemort most loyal, most fanatic followers. They had been dead for ages, though, and had never had any children. It made no sense, who could this girl possibly be?

Clytemnestra Lestrange walked slowly, and calmly put the Sorting Hat on her head. This time there was no mistaking it, Harry definitely could tell that she was talking, that she said something to the hat she was wearing. Minutes passed, or perhaps it was only seconds, and the whole hall seemed to hold its breath. Then, like a gunshot in a ghost town, the hat bellowed out, "SLYTHERIN."

There was no applause, no cheering, instead the whole hall began muttering to each other uneasily. Clytemnestra took the hat off carefully, and without hesitation set off towards the Slytherin table. Harry stared at her as she walked by, and for a fraction of a second their eyes met. She didn't look sad or scared, or even angry at the hostile muttering around her. Her eyes just looked dead, and no hint of emotion was visible on her narrow face. She turned away from him and Harry felt his eyes following her, at least until he caught a glimpse of Harry Potter out of the corner of his eye. The man who was Harry's namesake, his hero, looked angry and troubled. The moment that Clytemnestra Lestrange sat down, Harry Potter turned and left the Great Hall. He did not look back.

"Weasley, Rose," called Professor Evergreen, and Rose jumped slightly, as if she had forgotten that the ceremony was still going on. "Good luck," Harry whispered as she walked towards the hat slowly.

"You too," she replied, looking terrified.

It took barely ten seconds for the hat to yell, "GRYFFINDOR," and for Rose to hurry off and join her cheering cousins. After all that worrying, Harry thought with a grin, and everything worked out just fine. Even though Harry was all alone now, his excitement started to grow. He would be fine; the hat would let him choose. And even if it didn't, being in Ravenclaw with his sister wouldn't be so bad.

"Wiggins, Harry," called Professor Evergreen, and Harry could tell as he walked up that the students were restless for it to be over. Harry picked up the hat, and after a moment's pause put it on his head.

He didn't hear anything, and even the voices of the crowd seemed rather faint. "Um, hello?" Harry whispered, feeling rather foolish, "Mister, um, Hat?"

There was no reply, and Harry started to wonder what was going on. Albus had talked to it, hadn't he? Why didn't the hat want to say anything to him? After a few seconds, Harry decided to try again. "I was wondering if-" began Harry, but he didn't get a chance to finish.

"SLYTHERIN," bellowed the Sorting Hat.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 A Feasts with Serpents

Harry had no idea what to do; the only thing he could think of was to take off the Sorting Hat and stare around him in shock. This was all wrong, and it just didn't make any sense. Every face in the Great Hall was staring up at him, but they were nothing but a blur to him. He was only interested in one person... but where was she? Finally, his eyes found Cassy, her face showing the same confusion and surprise that he felt inside. Like him, she understood that this made no sense. Why would he, Harry Wiggins, be sorted into _Slytherin_? He was a half-blood wizard with a muggle father whose family had always fought against the Dark Arts. His sister would know what to do, thought Harry, she would be able to fix this. Cassy would somehow be able to make them understand that the Sorting Hat had clearly made a mistake.

"Well," Said Professor Evergreen in a quiet voice that no one but Harry could hear, "Off you go, Mr. Wiggins."

Harry looked at his sister again, who subtly gestured with her chin that he should sit down. She seemed at a loss of what to do, and Harry felt his hope deflate like a punctured balloon. There was nothing that she could do; nothing anyone could do now. He wanted to shout out loud, to tell everyone a mistake had been made, but he felt so very small. Staring straight down at his feet, Harry made his way, step by agonizing step, across the Great Hall to the Slytherin table.

The students around him started talking again as he made his way down and the Sorting Ceremony came to an end. How could they be so normal? Didn't they know what had just happened? The Slytherins, his fellow Slytherins now, did not look at all welcoming as he walked slowly past them. Harry settled himself at the very end of the table, where his fellow first years were all gathered, busy ignoring each other completely. He had listened to them all get called and sorted, one by one, never guessing that he would actually be joining them here. The only open seat at the whole table was next to Clytemnestra Lestrange, and Harry sat down very nervously, sitting as far away from her as he could without falling into Scorpius's lap on his other side. The Lestrange girl didn't look up at him at all, she just sat there staring down at her empty plate as the Headmistress got to her feet.

"Welcome!" Headmistress Sprout said in a friendly voice, smiling at all of them, "Another year of magical learning awaits. Sorting went a bit long this year, so all announcements can wait until after the feast. Without further delay, let the Welcome Feast begin!" She sat down as many of the students cheered, Harry not among them. He just stared blankly over at the Gryffindor table where all the students were laughing and joking, seemingly having the time of their lives. As Harry watched them, Rose Weasley glanced over at him, giving him a small, sad smile. Following her gaze, her cousin James Potter looked over at him, too, an expression of fierce dislike on his face. Suddenly Harry felt ashamed, and, fighting tears, he dropped his gaze to his empty plate in front of him. He hadn't asked to be in Slytherin, he didn't want to be here one bit. Why had this happened?

Dishes appeared all along the table, drawing surprised gasps and cheers from around the hall as Harry's fellow students began to grab everything in sight. Harry looked around without much interest, for he wasn't at all hungry. There was every kind of meat you could have wanted: roast beef, cooked chicken, pork, steak, lamb shanks and even fish and shrimp. There were at least four different kinds of bread and a variety of cheeses that Harry couldn't accurately identify. There were roasted, baked and mashed potatoes, chips, cheese pizza, vegetable stew, dumplings, shepherd's pie, and every sort of vegetable that Harry wouldn't have touched even if he had been hungry. The smell of it all was overwhelming, but all it did was make him feel rather sick. He watched as the other Slytherin first years piled food onto their plates; all except the Lestrange girl, who quietly grabbed a single piece of bread and nibbled at it as though she were busy impersonating a chipmunk. He wasn't sure why, but Harry found himself staring at her. There was nothing all that special about her, she had long black hair and a small pointed nose, thin lips and a wide jaw that was a sharp contrast to her narrow, girly face. Her eyes were very large and a deep, sparkling blue, but she didn't look at him even once while he watched her.

"I wouldn't stare at her like that, or she might curse that pretty smile off your face," said a girl sitting opposite Harry, and he turned to her in surprise. She had cold eyes and a large mouth that was currently arranged into a sneering grin. Harry thought she looked rather like a horse, and when she laughed at him the resemblance only grew. "I'm Courtney Stubbs," the girl said, although Harry hadn't asked, "and you're Harry Wiggins. I heard your name when you got sorted. I haven't ever met no Wiggins before, doesn't sound like a wizarding name to me." Her words were a challenge, and all the other first years turned to look at them. Everyone, that is, except Lestrange, who Harry figured at this point might not understand a word of English for all the reaction she showed to things happening around her. No one else was talking at this far end of the Slytherin table, and they all watched Harry to see what he would say.

Normally Harry would have yelled at the girl, proudly claiming that his father was a muggle and daring anyone said there was anything wrong with that. Instead he hesitated, feeling very small and lost. He was, after all, surrounded by a group of hostile-looking Slytherins who would almost certainly disagree with him. But what else could he say? He certainly wasn't going to pretend to be a pure-blood, but he didn't want them all to hate him from the very beginning. Anger flared up in Harry, he had nothing to be ashamed of. These people... they were the problem.

"Yeah, my father is a muggle; you got a problem with that?" Harry said in a low voice, his fist clenched under the table. His fellow first year Slytherins all stared at him, but no one answered him as the merry sounds of the feast swirled around them. Even Courtney kept quiet, although the look on her face suggested that she most certainly did have a problem with it.

"What about your mother, she a witch?" Asked the boy sitting across from Scorpius with a touch of hostility in his voice. Harry remembered from sorting that his name was Kevin Reese, and he was a big kid with very short brown hair and the look of a bully in his tough face. Harry was still angry, but he thought it was best to answer the boy's question. After all, Kevin looked rather scary. "Yeah she is, her name is Olivia Boot. She's pure-blood, or close enough... not that it matters!" Harry added that last part as a challenge, half-wanting to yell at someone and half-wanting to run away and cry. Again no one said anything, though none of the looks the others were giving him could be described as friendly. It was Courtney who spoke at last, after everyone but Harry had taken a few more bites to eat.

"Wonder why you got sorted into the Great House, Wiggins...A half-blood descendant of Ravenclaws." Courtney took a bite of broccoli as she spoke, watching him closely with her beady little eyes. Harry was surprised to discover just how unpleasant a person could be. In his whole life, he had never met anyone he liked less after less than five minutes.

"Look, I didn't ask to be here!" Harry said loudly, and a few of the older Slytherins turned to glare at him from further down the table. Harry faltered, especially when he saw a truly terrifying ghost looking over at him from halfway across the table. Cassy had told him all about ghosts, of course, so he wasn't surprised to see them in general, but he had always been a little afraid of them. They gave him the willies. This particular ghost was even worse, though. He was covered in dried blood, and the hostile look in his dead, sunken eyes froze Harry's vocal cords. He looked away quickly, trying to get the image of the Bloody Baron out of his mind.

"Oh, well, if you'd rather be like your blood-traitor mummy and follow her into Ravenclaw, then be my guest," Courtney said scathingly, and Harry felt a strong desire to punch her right in her ugly horse-face. There had been bullies in his primary school back in London, but no one that had ever made him as angry as Courtney did, and they had just met.

"Leave it, Courtney," said the boy on her other side, seemed too busy drenching everything on his plate in ketchup to look up at her. He had long brown hair and his body was thin and lanky. "He got sorted into Slytherin, just like all of us. Plus, there's nothing wrong with having a muggle father, we don't all have pure-blood, after all."

"J.B.," Courtney said hesitantly, "I wasn't talking about you, cousin." J.B. didn't seem to be listening, though. Instead, he reached his hand across the table for Harry to shake. "Name's John, John Bartholomew Grant, but most people call me J.B.. Welcome to Slytherin... better here than Gryffindor." Harry shook the boy's hand nervously and decided it was probably best not to say just how much he wished that he was sitting with the Gryffindors.

J.B. took a bite of cheese pizza covered in ketchup and gravy before turning to the girl on his other side, the tall spikey-haired girl who had sat with Harry on the boat, and asking, "So what's your story, Samantha isn't it?" The girl looked at him briefly, but didn't seem inclined to answer. Their end of the table descended into uneasy, awkward silence once again.

"Professor Evergreen said your name was Samantha Crabbe." Courtney said obnoxiously, "But there aren't any Crabbe's left, that family name went extinct when Vincent Crabbe died in the Battle of Hogwarts 19 years ago. It said so in Wizarding Genealogy Volume CCXII, so..." she faded into silence under the look that Samantha was giving her.

"You read Wizarding Genealogies for fun?" Kevin Reese said in disbelief, and Courtney's ear went pink. She muttered something about _Mother made me_ on Harry's left Scorpius nodded and spoke for the first time, saying, "Yeah, my father made me do the same thing. I was dreadful at remembering it, though."

"You're Malfoy's kid, right?" Kevin demanded, and the little boy nodded nervously. "Hmm," Kevin said after a moment, "I thought you'd be a little more impressive, family as old as that. But I guess what they say about the Malfoys is true now." Scorpius's face burned bright red and he turned his attention back to his food, refusing to look at any of them or respond. Kevin looked rather pleased with himself that he had successfully bullied someone, and Harry felt his anger growing. Before he could decide what to say though, Samantha spoke, glaring daggers at Kevin and Courtney.

"You want to know my story, do you? Fine. My real name is Samantha Fisher, daughter of Anton Fisher. That name mean anything to you?" It didn't to Harry, but both Kevin and Courtney's eyes widened in shock. "But if you ever call me by that name I swear I will end you, understand? You call me by my mother's last name, or better yet, don't talk to me at all." She smiled coldly at them all and without another word turned her attention to attacking the chicken leg on her plate as if it had done something to provoke her. It seemed to Harry as though his initial impression of Samantha Crabbe was right. She was absolutely terrifying.

No one spoke for the rest of the feast, but all the Slytherins took turns glancing over at Clytemnestra Lestrange, each of them undoubtedly as curious about her as Harry was. J.B. opened his mouth a few times to ask her something, but he always seemed to lose his nerve at the last moment. Harry spent most of his time watching the children at the other tables laughing and joking, and wondered what he'd done to be punished like this.

The feast seemed to take forever to finish. Harry still felt too sick to eat anything except a piece of bread, which he nibbled just like the Lestrange girl beside him, mostly just to have something to do. She glanced at him briefly, her blue eyes staring into his for only about a second before she turned back to her bread and continued ignoring everyone and everything around her. Before Harry could work up the courage to say anything to her, Headmistress Sprout got to her feet and smiled at all of them.

"Monday begins another year of magical education of all of you, and I'm sure you all can't wait for classes to finally begin." A few students chuckled at her words, mostly coming from the Hufflepuff table. They seemed to take it as a joke. At the table next to them, though, many of the Ravenclaws nodded, as if that were self-explanatory. "Before you go off to your dormitories, I have a few announcements for everyone." The Headmistress's tone became a bit stricter, and Harry was reminded of his muggle grandmother who was kind and patient most of the time, but, as Father put it, did not suffer fools.

"All students should remember that the Forbidden Forest is, as the name implies, _forbidden_ to all students who do not have express permission from an instructor to be there. It is a dangerous place, and should be avoided for your own safety. There have been no deaths at Hogwarts for nineteen years," Headmistress Sprout faltered for a brief moment, "and we all very much prefer it that way. New students should also avoid the Whomping Willow on the east side of the grounds and the wall of vines on the south side of the castle, both of which can be very dangerous."

Harry looked around at the other new Slytherins. Samantha and the Lestrange girl both ignored the warning completely, as if they couldn't care less. Courtney and Scorpius seemed nervous at the thought of being near anything dangerous, while Kevin and J.B. both looked rather excited, as if it wouldn't take much to convince them to try and see how close they could get to a Whomping Willow without getting... whomped.

"Quidditch try-outs will be organized by the end of next week, anyone interested in playing should contact their House's Quidditch Captain to find out when their trials are being held. There are no new staff appointments, and any other announcements will be handled by the heads of the houses. Welcome back, and goodnight to you all!" The Headmistress smiled at all of them and dismissed them all with a wave.

The sound of hundreds of students moving all at once filled the Great Hall, and Harry seized his opportunity, leaping to his feet and rushing over to his sister as fast as he could. If he hurried, he would have a chance to speak to her before he had to follow the other Slytherins to wherever their common room was. Cassy had the same idea, for she met him halfway between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw table, reaching out to place a comforting arm on his shoulder instinctively.

"Cassy, I-" began Harry.

"I know, Halo, it doesn't make any sense. I'll talk to Professor Clearwater tonight. He's the head of Ravenclaw, and maybe he will have some idea what to do. I know you, Halo, there's no way you should have been sorted in Slytherin."

"I hate it there, they're all..."

"Just sit tight, little brother. I'll get to the bottom of it, even if I have to yell at the headmistress myself." Cassy gave his shoulder another little squeeze. "You better go though, Halo, the Slytherins are already leaving for the dungeon. Follow your prefects, and keep yourself out of trouble."

Harry didn't want to leave sister and follow the Slytherins down into the dungeon, but he didn't have choice. Cassy would be able to sort it out eventually, but until then the hat had stuck him with these people. Harry nodded to his sister as bravely as he could and followed after the Slytherins.

The others were far ahead of him, already shuffling down the steps into the dungeon. Everyone, that is, except Clytemnestra Lestrange, who was standing right outside the doors of the Great Hall, staring at her feet like usual. Harry was nervous to be near her all alone, until a sudden thought crossed his mind. She wasn't here by accident… she must have been_ waiting_ for him! The thought was absurd, since she hadn't ever spoken or as much as looked at him for more than half a second, but he knew it was true.

Clytemnestra Lestrange didn't look at him as he reached her, but sure enough she started walking beside him (well, a little behind him) as he reached her. Together they hurried after the other Slytherins who were already out of sight and on their way to the dungeons.

"Why were you waiting for me?" Harry asked suddenly as they hurried down the stairs, "You were waiting... weren't you?" he added nervously. She gave a little nod, so subtle that it might not have been there at all and looked up at him again. This time it was two whole seconds before she turned away to look at her feet again. Harry didn't know what to say, he had never met anyone as confusing as this girl. She certainly didn't _seem _that evil, not with the way she was acting, but Harry Potter and the rest of the Ministry was clearly afraid of her. Harry wondered what she could have done to scare them all.

They continued walking and came upon the other Slytherins suddenly— waiting for them at the bottom of a set of stairs were the five other first years and a pair of older boys who Harry figured had to be prefects. They were standing outside a dark and cold classroom, and as Harry and Clytemnestra joined the others the taller of the prefects said, "Well, well, seems our stragglers have finally caught up. All right, you little turds, in here." He and the other prefect entered the classroom, followed by the first years, who exchanged nervous looks.

"My name is Patrick Harper, and this is Liam Reese, and we have the unpleasant duty of seeing if you worthless pieces of shits have what it takes to be called Slytherins. If you can get by us, we'll let you in."

"What are you talking about?" Courtney asked nervously, "The Sorting Hat placed us in Slytherin."

"True enough, but that doesn't mean you are actually_ worthy_ of being a Slytherin. To receive that honour, you'll have to beat us in duel," Patrick Harper said, smiling evilly and pulling out his wand. Harry and the other new Slytherins stared at each other in shock. They didn't know any magic at all, how could they possibly be expected to duel with 5th and 6th years?

"It's not a duel" said a small, high voice that no one had heard before. "It's an excuse to torture us, isn't it?" Harry jumped slightly when he realized that it was Clytemnestra that had spoken. Her face utterly white and she seemed to be shaking uncontrollably, but whether it was from fear or anger Harry couldn't tell for sure.

"You're going to haze us?" Samantha Crabbe said, clenching her fist angrily.

"That's right, ladies," Liam Reese said with a cruel smile on his face, "So, who want to be first?"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Welcome to the Dungeon

Harry couldn't believe that this was really happening. How could the Slytherin prefects actually think it was okay to duel a bunch of first years who had never even cast a single spell before?

"No volunteers?" Patrick Harper said with a sneer, "I guess we'll just have to choose, Liam, since no one has any stones. What about that one, he looks tough." He indicated Kevin, who was staring at Liam with a look of disbelief on his face. They looked pretty similar to Harry, and he figured they were probably brothers... or cousins at the very least. Plus, they had the same last name, so there was that.

"Perfect, I'll take this one," Liam said, drawing his wand suddenly and pointing it at Kevin. "Wand up, little brother."

"Liam..." Kevin said, sounding very small, an impressive trick considering he was quite a bit taller than all the other first years. His brother just laughed and said, "Pay attention, you little shits, this is how you duel. First you bow, just like this." Liam gave an exaggerated bow, twirling his wand while Patrick Harper looked on with a look of savage pleasure.

"You can try and disarm me, or, if you are feeling particularly ambitious, little brother, you can try and stun me," Liam Reese said. "Expelliarmus is the disarming charm, and even a pathetic first year should be able to cast it. Stupefy is the incantation for stunning, but none of you will be able to cast a spell like that. Then, of course there is Protego, a basic shield spell. Well, that's all you need to know, ready to start?"

The obvious answer was no, but Kevin didn't seem able to speak. The boy just stood holding his wand limply in his right hand, staring at his brother.

"Three!" called Patrick Harper, holding up three fingers while Liam Reese raised his wand.

"Two!" continued Harper, putting his ring finger down. Harry felt awful for Kevin, despite the fact that he didn't much like the boy. Kevin was a bully, but even so Harry didn't think that he deserved to be cursed by his own brother like this.

"One!" called Harper, putting down his index finger and leaving up his middle, waving it at all of them crudely. Compared to these jerks, thought Harry, Kevin and Courtney are angels.

"GO!" shouted Harper, and Liam raised his wand over his head and yelled, "CRU-" while Kevin screamed, dropped his wand, and covered his head with his hands. Liam stopped whatever spell he was about to cast and broke down laughing, joined by Patrick Harper, who had tears of laughter in his eyes.

"Oh, little Kevin, you didn't piss yourself did you?" Liam said, gasping for breath. "I'm not going to haze you, brother, I was just messing. Come over here, you little idiot." Kevin moaned slightly in relief, and picked up his wand before going to join his brother.

"The rest of you, though, will have to prove yourselves worthy of the Great House of Salazar Slytherin," Patrick Harper said, turning to the rest of them, "starting with you." He pointed directly at Clytemnestra Lestrange, who didn't look up. She just kept staring at her feet, as if they mattered more than he did.

"Well, _Lestrange_, step forward," Liam commanded, annoyed by her lack of reaction. Very slowly, the girl did as she was told. She was still shaking as she drew her wand very slowly with her left hand. Harry wanted to stop this, he wanted to do _something_ at least, but what could he do?

"You heard the explanation on how to duel, Lestrange?" Demanded Patrick Harper. Clytemnestra didn't respond, her eyes stayed down, staring at Liam's shoes now instead of her own. Patrick and Liam exchanged glances, and they both shrugged.

"Whatever. Get ready, little girl," Liam said, holding up three fingers. Clytemnestra muttered something which none of them could hear, and both boys paused.

"What did you say?" Patrick asked.

"I said," she repeated, raising her eyes briefly to look straight at him, "that I don't want to hurt any of you... and that I'm sorry." As soon as she was finished speaking, she dropped her eyes again, shaking worse than ever.

Patrick stared at her for a moment, and then he and Liam started laughing. Moments later Kevin joined in, and pretty soon, all the Slytherins were laughing, although the first years' laughter was rather forced. Only Harry didn't join in, his mind was spinning rapidly. Mr. Potter had said something about not knowing the effects of some of the spells that had been cast on her… or something like that. Could this hazing trigger something inside the girl, something that would hurt them all? What bothered him the most was that the Lestrange girl didn't sound like she was kidding. If anything, she seemed sad about what was about to happen. There was something not normal about that girl, and it made Harry very nervous. This needed to stop before something went horribly wrong.

"Wait!" Called Harry, surprised at how squeaky his voice sounded in the dungeon classroom. "I-I volunteer. I'll, er, duel you in her place."

Everyone turned to look at him, and the prefects started laughing again, but this time the first year Slytherins did not join in. They were all staring at him, and Harry had no idea what they were thinking.

"Aww, looks like Wiggins is in love," Patrick said with a wicked grin on his face. "Alright, we'll spare your girlfriend... for now. Let's go, muggle-born."

"I'm not... my mother's a witch!" Protested Harry, although he wasn't really sure why. After all, there was nothing wrong with being a muggle-born. What made him say it?

"Fine, you're a half-breed," Patrick Harper said with a dismissive wave of his wand. "Let's see what that muggle blood does for you, shall we? Get ready."

Harry didn't need to be told twice, he angrily whipped his wand out of his ropes as he walked past Clytemnestra, who stepped back without looking at him. The other first years muttered in wonder as they saw his wand, marvelling at the way it twisted around itself. Patrick glanced at it without comment and raised his own wand above his head as Liam Reese called out, "Three!"

Harry began to panic, what the name of Merlin did he think he was doing? He didn't know any magic, and he had never so much as cast a single spell before. Was this another trick like the one they had pulled on Kevin? He doubted it...

"Two!"

What should he try... should he try to attack the boy? What good would that do? There was no way he could possibly beat him. It would probably...

"One!"

There was nothing for it, he would just have to try and shield himself. What was that charm again... _Protecto_? No, that wasn't it, it was...

"GO!"

"_Stupefy_!" shouted Patrick, pointing his wand at Harry.

"_Protego_!" shouted Harry, waving his wand in front of him, hoping it would work as he shut his eyes tightly. He didn't know what he was doing, but the wand seemed to almost move on its own. There was a collective gasp as Harry opened his eyes and found that he was miraculously unstunned and a shining indigo field of light shimmering in front of him. He couldn't it believe! The shield charm had actually worked... just like that. Why though? Harry thought to himself, puzzled. Why had it been so easy that he could do it first try? As Harry looked at the shield, it slowly began to fade away. He rather wished it wouldn't, he would need that shield again in a few seconds. Patrick Harper stared at him in shock, but Harry knew it was only a matter of time before the older boy cursed him again, and this time he would be angry.

Sure enough, a few seconds later Patrick's face contorted in anger and he raised his wand again saying, "Neat trick, Wiggins, but I bet you can't do it again."

"It must be the wand," Liam said, giving Harry a hard look, "No first year could summon a shield like that. Take it from him, Pat."

Patrick Harper nodded and shouted, "_Expelliar_-" but he faltered mid-spell as he heard the sound of footsteps coming down the hall.

"Oh, bloody hell," muttered Patrick Harper, quickly stowing his wand beneath his ropes. "Any of you piglets squeal about this, I will curse you so badly you'll never walk again, understand? Especially you, Wiggins." Before Harry could respond a teacher strode quickly into the classroom, surveying the scene in an instant. He was a thin, short man with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. He didn't look very old, perhaps in his mid-thirties, and Harry's first impression of him was that he would be a very hard man to fool.

"Harper, Reese, I told you to stop this nonsense," the man said harshly. "I _expressly f_orbade you from hazing the first year Slytherins."

"Hazing, Professor Mason?" Patrick Harper said as innocently as he could, "We weren't hazing them. Just wanted to give them a few pointers, and, you know, showing them a classroom." He gestured around the dark, empty classroom that had absolutely nothing worth seeing in it.

Professor Mason raised a sceptical eyebrow, and his eyes swept over the students. "Luckily for you, Harper, it appears that you hadn't yet begun, so you did not expressly disobey my commands, despite your obvious intentions to do just that. Therefore, there will be no detention for either of you. Come along now, we have to get you to your common room."

Harry felt Patrick Harper's eyes upon, and he turned to meet them, refusing to be intimidated by the boy. He wasn't sure where his defiance was coming from, since obviously the Sorting Hat hadn't thought him courageous enough to be in Gryffindor. Even so, he longed to yell out the truth, regardless of what the boy threatened to do to him. Patrick seemed to read his mind and subtly gestured his head over at Clytemnestra Lestrange and clenched his fist. The meaning was clear enough, if Harry said anything he wouldn't be the only one who suffered. Harry didn't actually care about Clytemnestra in any special way, in fact he was a little bit frightened of her, but he didn't want her or anyone else to suffer because of him (well, maybe Courtney.) Harry and Patrick were the last to leave the cold classroom, but in the end simply Harry followed without saying a word. Maybe the hat had been right—maybe he didn't have what it took to be a Gryffindor after all.

Harry and the others followed Professor Mason through the twisting maze of passages, and Harry soon lost all sense of where he was or what direction led back to the Great Hall. Thank goodness the professor had come looking for them; he had saved Harry from a pretty desperate situation. Harry wondered who he was, and what subject he taught. What was he even doing down here, anyways... and where was the head of Slytherin House? Whoever that professor was, he was probably sitting back in the Slytherin common room, laughing about how he had ordered the first years to be tortured. Of all the houses he could have been sorted into, of course it had to be Slytherin.

Their footsteps echoed loudly through the passages, and Harry wished it wasn't so dark. There were torches hung at various intervals, but there was still very little light. Patrick kept glancing back at him, his eyes glittering ominously in the flickering torchlight. Harry's determination and anger had all but evaporated by this point, and he realized to his dismay that he had managed to already make an enemy of a Slytherin prefect. Good thinking, Harry thought to himself sullenly, I'll be snuffed by the end of the week.

They reached their destination at last, a rather unimpressive section of wall with a pair of torches flanking a large portrait. Harry hadn't seen very many of the moving portraits that his sister had told him so much about on the way here and he figured that was because they didn't want to be put down in the dungeons. Harry could very much relate to that. He didn't want to be down here either. Harry was at the back of the little group and couldn't see anything at first, but Kevin Reese rudely shoved Scorpius Malfoy out of the way and Harry got a clear view of the portrait.

Sitting in a large, stuffed armchair in the large, ornate portrait was a very short, very fat man who was fast asleep, head resting easily on his large belly. He was dressed as if for bed, but he was wearing clothes that were far fancier than Harry had thought anyone would wear to bed. He had on a velvet robe of some kind over a nightshirt that seemed to be straining to contain his enormous stomach. His blond hair was covered with an ornate wizard hat, but what really drew Harry's eyes was his enormous moustache, which made him look rather like a short, richly-dressed, blond walrus.

"Professor Slughorn," called Professor Mason, "Professor Slughorn. Horace... HORACE!"

"I- what?" squawked the man in the portrait, jerking awake and scattering a number of objects that had cluttered up the small table beside him. "You startled me, Orpheus," muttered the portrait of Professor Slughorn. The heavy man stood with a wheeze and stooped down to collect the various objects from the floor of his portrait. He was a bit overzealous in his attempt to pick up a box of chocolates, a bottle of brandy, and what appeared to be a crystallized pineapple all at once, and rather than collecting them all in his little hands the Professor instead sent them all scattering further away, perhaps even into another portrait somewhere in the castle. Professor Slughorn gave a little moan and was about to hurry after his fallen treasures when Professor Mason tapped the portrait again and said, "Horace, would you please let us in."

"Oh I... yes, very well. You always were a favourite of mine, Orpheus," the Professor said with a jolly old smile. "Just a moment... how do I open myself again?" Harry heard the portrait mumble to himself.

"Professor Slughorn, you need to wait for me to give you the password," Professor Mason said, his voice slightly strained. At first Harry thought that he was angry, but he realized that Professor Mason was actually trying very hard not to laugh.

"Hmm, yes, you're right about that, my boy," Professor Slughorn's portrait said, solemnly bobbing his head in a gentlemanly sort of way.

"_Serpensortia_," said Professor Mason, and the portrait swung open, revealing the Slytherin common room. They entered it slowly, Harry dragging his feet as he reluctantly moved forward. He didn't want to be here, not one bit, but he had no choice. This was where he had been placed, for some reason. As the portrait closed behind him, Harry thought he could faintly hear the sound of Professor Slughorn scrambling after his fallen possessions. Miserable as he was, Harry couldn't help smiled widely at that before hurrying to catch the others, who were heading for the far side of the common room.

The first word that came to Harry's mind when looked around the Slytherin common room was... green. Green lamps hung from the low ceiling, casting green shadows off every surface. Even the fancy marble fireplace looked green rather than white in the eerie light of the room. Then Harry saw the far wall of the common room, a sight so astounding that it was amazing that he hadn't noticed it straight away. The far wall was simply not there; the common room simply opened up to the water of the lake that Harry and the others had crossed just a few hours before. There didn't seem to be any glass or anything at all holding the water at bay, but Harry figured it had to be held back by magic. The glow of the lake only intensified the green light in the common room, and it made Harry feel slightly ill. He had always liked the colour green, but this was just too much.

"Now that I have recovered our missing first year students, I can continue and we can all get to bed," said Professor Mason. "I am Professor Orpheus Mason, your Transfiguration teacher and head of the Slytherin house..."

Harry started slightly, although he wasn't sure why he was surprised. Professor Mason had gathered them all and taken them here, but even so Harry really had never expected him to be the Head of Slytherin. He had just assumed that he was a passing teacher. Professor Mason, quite honestly, seemed too fair and not nearly mean enough to be associated with Slytherin in any way. Harry realized that he was missing the announcements, and shook his head to clear away the distracting thoughts and help him pay attention.

"-Gobstone Club, Charm Club, Divination Club, and various others, if anyone is interested in joining," Professor Mason said dryly, as if he would find it rather surprising if any of them did express interest in joining a club.

"Anyone interested in trying out for this year's Quidditch Team as a chaser, keeper or beater please contact Captain Eustace Belby," Professor Mason said, indicating a tall, thin boy who looked so much older that Harry figured he had to be a seventh year.

"We need people with even the slightest amount of skill to join. Atalanta and I can't do it all on our own. We lost two games last year when she caught the snitch... TWO!" Belby said, shaking his head mournfully, glancing over at a short, slender girl who looked a few years older than Harry was. She had very long blond hair that went down to her knees. Harry immediately realized that nearly every Slytherin in the common room was staring at her, but the stares didn't seem to bother her at all. She just looked patiently at Professor Mason, waiting for him to continue.

"So that's Atalanta Selwyn," Kevin whispered to Courtney, who was standing right in front of Harry. "The girl's a legend. I heard my brother say she's the most talented witch to come through Hogwarts since Voldemort himself. Every boy is mad for her, but Liam says she's an Ice Queen."

"What does that mean?" asked Courtney, who was clearly in awe of the girl, whoever she was.

"No idea," replied Kevin with a shrug of his shoulders, as if it didn't matter in the slightest. The fact that he didn't know probably just made her more amazing in his eyes.

"Well that's all for tonight. I will go over everyone's schedules on Sunday. Term doesn't often start on a Friday, so you lucky first years have the weekend to get yourselves adjusted to the castle. First and second years are to go straight up to bed, the rest of you ought to follow suit soon enough." There was some grumbling and complaining at this, but the students knew they really had no choice in the matter. Harry was about to follow the others over to the dormitories when Professor Mason said, "Wait a moment, everyone. Wiggins, which one of you is Harry Wiggins?" Harry stopped suddenly, and his fellow first years all turned to look at him.

"I-I am," Harry said in a little voice that squeaked slightly when he saw that every single Slytherin was looking at him, even Atalanta Selwyn, who was gazed at him with large, green eyes that flickered with interest. She whispered something to the boy beside her, who with a jolt Harry saw was Patrick Harper. Harry turned away quickly, hurrying over to Professor Mason. Whatever those two were talking about, it was bound to be bad news for Harry.

"I am to take you to see the Headmistress. It seems that there is some... question about your sorting," the Professor said, loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"Oh, alright," Harry said in a faint whisper, very conscious that every Slytherin at Hogwarts was silent and staring at him. Harry looked down at his feet, trying not to feel the weight of their eyes upon him. Why had the Professor said it so loudly… why had he let everyone know? He definitely needed to get out of here know—they were bound to hate him after this.

"Alright first and second year students, on to bed. Goodnight to all of you."

"Goodnight, Professor Mason," the Slytherins echoed back at him.

"Come along, Wiggins," Professor Mason said, his tone completely neutral. Harry followed quickly, but he couldn't help giving the common room one last glance. The whole thing with the lake was pretty cool, and green was one of his favourite colours, after all. He wasn't quite sure why, but as he glanced around the common room his eyes found Clytemnestra Lestrange, who was staring straight at him as he made his way towards the exit of the common room. They watched each other for a few seconds before Lestrange turned and made her way up to the dormitories and out of sight while Harry followed Professor Mason out of the portrait hole. Harry tried to get the image of her blue eyes out of his head... but he just couldn't. Why did she look so sad?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Offers and Counteroffers

That night was the first time that Harry Wiggins walked the corridors and passages of Hogwarts Castle, following Professor Mason from the lowest dungeons to the Headmaster's Office many floors above. It was quite a long walk, full of many wonderful sights that one might witness along the way. They passed the enchanted forest classroom where Firenze the centaur taught his students the ancient knowledge of his people. They passed a small, roped-off section of swamp that the legendary Weasley Twins had created over twenty years before during their final, incomplete year at Hogwarts. They passed vanishing staircases, walls pretending to be doors, doors pretending to be wall, and even a particularly confusing bit of wall on the second floor that couldn't decide which it was going to be until you walked into it. They even passed the entrance to the mysterious Room of Requirements, although perhaps we can forgive a first year for missing that particularly elusive Hogwarts secret. It is far harder to forgive Harry for staring at his feet the whole journey, missing the portraits, ghosts, suites of armour, and all the other fantastic things that one runs into while walking the corridors of Hogwarts at night.

But Harry was distracted and afraid, so the journey was something of a blur. What was going to happen to him, could he dare to hope that he would be allowed to change Houses? Cassy had said that she would be able to sort this whole thing out, but had she really managed to come through for him so quickly? There was so much going on, how could he possibly make sense of it all?

Before Harry knew it, he and Professor Mason were standing in front of a large, unbelievably ugly gargoyle that seemed to be watching Harry with its huge stone eyes. Suddenly, the gargoyle blinked, and Harry jumped back with a shout that sounded like a mix between a whimper and a girly scream. Professor Mason smiled at him, but Harry wasn't especially reassured. The professor's eyes were far too calculating.

"Nothing to worry about, this is simply the entrance to the headmistress's study. Now, Mr. Wiggins, before we go up, I would like you to tell me exactly what happened in that classroom," Professor Mason said in a quiet voice.

Harry hesitated, not sure what to say. He felt that he had to tell the truth to a professor, but what if Patrick Harper was true to his word and took his revenge out on the others because Harry told on him? He could accept it if the boy came after him, but the others might suffer because of this...

"There is no need to be afraid if they threatened you, I wouldn't let the boys hurt you," Professor Mason said reassuringly.

"It's not that, Professor," mumbled Harry. Why was he hesitating so much, what did he care? He didn't owe the others anything. He could just get his revenge on those bullies and be done with it. But still…

"Well then what is it?" Asked the professor, his eyes reading Harry's every move.

"It's just... well... the others. I don't… I don't want anything to happen to them," Harry said slowly, as if fighting his own words. Why did he really care that much about a bunch of unpleasant near-strangers?

"I see," Professor Mason said with a hint of surprise. "Do not be afraid, Mr. Wiggins, I will not let anything happen to my first years. Now please, tell me what happened."

Harry could think of no reason not to, so he told Professor Mason everything that had happened since he and Clytemnestra had joined the others outside the classroom. The professor showed no reaction to Harry's story, but his eyes continued scanning Harry's face with great interest.

"Indigo," he said at last, "It was pure indigo?"

"What... er, Professor?" Harry said, almost forgetting his manners in his confusion.

"The shield charm, was it composed of pure indigo light?" Professor Mason asked.

"Well, yes... I think so. What does that mean?" Harry asked, not sure what was going on.

"Why did you volunteer in the place of Ms. Lestrange?" The professor asked, ignoring Harry's question. Harry thought that was rather rude, but there was no use arguing with a teacher. He wasn't sure how much to tell the professor about the conversation between Mr. Potter and the others. Had the other teachers been informed of her?

"I just had the feeling that something bad might happen if they started attacking her. I just get this feeling, Professor, that there's something... strange about her. "

"Are you afraid of her?" Professor Mason asked after another moment of silence. The question caught Harry a bit off guard. What was he supposed to say? _Was_ he afraid of her?

"Uhh... I-I'm not sure," Harry stuttered. The had been, at least a little not long ago, but he remembered her blue eyes and the look of sadness. "No," he said a little more decisively, "No, I'm not afraid of her, I'm just, er, confused."

Professor Mason watched him for another few seconds before nodding to himself and turning away. He said nothing more, and Harry had no idea what he was thinking. Had he done something wrong, or had he said the right things?

"_Fanged Geranium_," The professor said and without warning the Gargoyle leapt aside and the wall behind it opened in the blink of an eye, revealing a spiral staircase leading, most likely, to the headmistress's office.

"Come along, Mr. Wiggins." Professor Mason said kindly, "You'll want to see this."

Harry obeyed, following the professor onto the staircase that immediately began ascending on its own. Harry glanced at Professor Mason as they waited, wondering what sort of man he really was. He seemed nice enough most of the time, but the look that he had in his eye made Harry feel uneasy. Plus, he was the head of Slytherin, so Harry had a hard time believing he could actually trust him.

The staircase ended in front of a large wooden door with a brass knocker in the shape of what seemed to be a winged badger. Professor Mason knocked without hesitation and a moment later the door swung open on its own and he walked inside. Harry was a bit surprised by the suddenness of it all, but thought it best not to leave everybody waiting and hurried in after the professor. He stumbled slightly on the lip of the door, and when he righted himself he got his first view of Headmistress Sprout's office.

It was a very large, circular room that was dominated by a very old wooden desk that was almost invisible under a dozen or so potted plants that Harry had never seen... or even imagined might possibly exist somewhere. There was one plant that looked like blue bamboo, rising almost to the ceiling. Another plant was covered with what looked like golden flowers, and smelled so sweet that, even from a distance, that Harry started to feel a bit light-headed. There were plants everywhere, not just on the Headmistress's desk, but also scattered around the room on table and sitting high on atop shelves. It was almost as if Harry had walked into a jungle. The air was warm and full of dozens of sweet smells. Before he could examine the others in any great detail, Headmistress Sprout emerged from behind her desk, wearing beautiful green robes that were covered here and there with dirt. She looked much happier and more relaxed than she had at the feast, and she gave Harry a big smile.

"You must be Harry Wiggins. Welcome to Hogwarts, young man," the headmistress said as she took off her dirty gloves.

"H-hello, Headmistress," Harry said nervously, totally overwhelmed by everything around him.

"Just give me a moment, if you all don't mind," the headmistress said, absently brushing dirt off of her hat, "Sorry about the mess, chaps, I haven't had time to get Neville to take all these down to the greenhouses yet." She began rearranging the plants on the desk, making as much space as she could. "Oh, and Miss Wiggins," added Professor Sprout, looking over her shoulder, "you might want to take a few steps away from that Incisored Elm sapling. It looks hungry."

Cassy moved so fast that she might have been shot out of a cannon, coming out of the shadows of an innocent-looking little tree to stand beside Harry, who was rather startled by her sudden appearance. Then he saw that there were a number of other people standing around in the office that he simply hadn't noticed with all the amazing plants around. Professor Evergreen stood nearby, talking to two other Professors who Harry didn't recognize.

"That's Professor Clearwater," Cassy whispered quietly to her brother, "He's the head of Ravenclaw, and he agreed to petition that your Sorting was an irregularity." As she spoke, a tall, bald professor with glasses nodded to him. At first Harry thought he had a kind looking face, but as the man stepped into the light he saw a pair of scars that ran the length of the man's head. One scar ran from his left ear to his chin, while the other ran from the top of his head down between his nose and his right eye, ending at his upper lip. His appearance was rather frightening; despite the cheerful smile he was giving Harry.

"And that," continued Cassy in a whisper, indicating a young witch with shoulder length brown hair, "is Professor Dimock. She's the head of Hufflepuff and teaches Charms. All the heads of the houses are here, although I'm not sure what is going to hap-" She stopped suddenly as Professor Mason cleared his throat and said, "Let us begin, shall we?"

"By all means," Headmistress Sprout said, sitting behind her desk. She had finally cleared enough space so that she could see all of them.

"Earlier this evening," began Professor Clearwater, "Cassandra Wiggins brought to my attention her concerns regarding the Sorting of her brother, Harry Wiggins. He seemed to have been placed into a house that he was not suited for. Almost the entire Boot family has been in Ravenclaw for several generations, and young Harry does not seem to have the temperament that would warrant a break in that tradition. Therefore I have decided to call for a formal review of Mr. Wiggins' Sorting."

None of the other Professors showed any reaction to his words, and Harry figured they must already have known what was going to happen. No one spoke for a moment, and Harry found it difficult to remember to breathe normally. What was going to happen? Was he really going to be allowed to switch houses? _Please_, Harry thought, _please_...

"As I understand it," Professor Mason said mildly, although Harry could detect a hardness in the man's voice, as if he did not approve of what was happening. "The argument seems to be that he doesn't have, in your words, the _usual_ Slytherin temperament and therefore his sorting must have been a mistake. I must say that I cannot help feeling victimized here. If young Harry had been sorted into Gryffindor, I doubt that there would be such an uproar."

"Oh stop it, Orpheus," Professor Evergreen said impatiently. "Don't pretend that Slytherin doesn't have a different history from the other Houses, that it doesn't have certain criteria on which it chooses its students. There is nothing sinister going on here, but rather it is simply that Harry Wiggins doesn't match the qualities Slytherin House prizes in its students."

"Oh, is that right?" Professor Mason said, as if surprised. "Is Harry not curious, not clever, not ambitious? That's not a very nice thing to say about a young man, Elmander, especially when he is standing right there."

"Enough of your word games, Orpheus," Professor Evergreen said, the annoyance clear in his voice. "The issue has been raised. The first order of business is to consult the Sorting Hat and understand its reasoning. If the hat agrees it erred and is willing to change Mr. Wiggin's assigned house, then that will be that. All in favour?"

Professors Evergreen, Dimock and Clearwater raised their hands, and, after a long pause, Professor Mason followed suit with an exaggerated sigh.

"If the hat truly has made a mistake, then so be it. I would, however, like to make a formal complaint on how Slytherin House is being treated in this matter."

"Noted," The Headmistress said as she got to her feet and approached the Sorting Hat, which was resting shabbily on a shelf behind her desk. "Very well, I'll speak to the hat and see what it has to say on the matter."

Harry watched in astonishment as the Headmistress took the hat off of the shelf and, without hesitation, put it on her head. Everyone was completely silent, with the only sound in the office came from a brown little plant in the back that seemed to be chirping like a bird. At last Headmistress Sprout took the Sorting Hat off slowly and replaced it on its place on the shelf. She did not speak as she sat back down behind her desk, and Harry was sorely tempted to shout, "Well!?" But even Cassy knew better than to shout a thing like that to a group of professors, although the desire to do just that was, as usual, much stronger in her than in her brother.

"Has the hat offered an alternate sorting?" Professor Clearwater asked quietly when the Headmistress didn't speak, still wrapped up in her own thoughts.

"No, the hat stands by its decision, although its explanation was... unusual," the headmistress said. "I'm afraid I won't be sharing it with any of you; not tonight anyways."

Harry felt as though he was being deflated, as if someone had poked him with a pin and all the air was rushing out. So he would have to remain in Slytherin after all, after all that had...

"That brings us to the next step," Professor Evergreen said, cutting through Harry's thinking. Harry shook his head to help him focus. "If the heads of all four Houses agree that Harry should be placed into a house that he is more suited for, namely Ravenclaw, then he will be transferred. That is, if that's all right with you, Headmistress.

"Do what you will… I can make no recommendation for or against," Headmistress Sprout said. Halo thought that was a little odd, since she_ was_ Headmistress, but she seemed preoccupied by whatever the hat had told her.

"Then we will vote to place Harry into my house," Professor Clearwater said. "That is what you want, isn't it Harry?"

"Er," was all Harry could say at first. It was a little strange that no one had asked him what he wanted up to now. He would, all things considered, probably want to be in Gryffindor, but he thought it best not to push his luck. There seemed to be a small chance that he could get out of Slytherin, and he needed to seize it. "Yes, Professor, that is what I would want."

"All in favour?" Asked Professor Evergreen, and again Professor Dimock, Evergreen and Clearwater raised their hands almost immediately. Professor Mason's hand remained down, and Harry heard Cassy groan quietly beside her.

"Really, Orpheus?" Professor Dimock said with a shake of her head. "Do you have a reason to go against the will of your fellow professors?"

"I simply do not think that an artefact that has served this school for a thousand years; that has been entrusted with sorting young wizards for generations, should be so casually disregarded."

"The hat has made questionable decisions before, which is why this process was instituted in 1695," Professor Clearwater said, although he seemed to be seriously considering Professor Mason's words.

"I simply cannot agree to give up one of my students based on such a flimsy pretext. I'll say again that if Mr. Wiggins had been sorted into any other House, we wouldn't be having this meeting."

"But Harry himself said that he would like to be placed in Ravenclaw," Professor Dimock said with a frown.

"Sorting is not a popularity contest, because if it were I think we all know who would win... and who would lose," Professor Mason said, and Professor Dimock blushed slightly. Harry knew, as everyone else undoubtedly did, that there weren't many who would rather be sorted into Hufflepuff over Gryffindor.

"Are you really going to set yourself against the three of us, Mason?" Professor Evergreen said in a quiet, dangerous voice. It seemed that the kind, helpful Professor Evergreen was not the only side the man had.

"Very well," Professor Mason said with a sigh, "but at least give Harry some time to judge Slytherin for himself before making a decision. If, at the start of winter holidays, he still wants to change houses, then I will not oppose it."

"But A student changing houses halfway through the year is unheard of!" Protested Professor Dimock.

"Not unheard of, Alana, merely unusual," said the headmistress, speaking for the first time in several minutes. "I think that Professor Mason's proposal is most reasonable. At the end of term, we shall reconvene and Mr. Wiggins, if he so chooses, will be allowed to change houses. That is enough for tonight, these students ought to get to bed."

Suddenly that was that, the professor all seemed to move at once. Professor Dimock gave Harry a little smile as she left, while Professor Evergreen went forward to speak to the Headmistress. Harry wasn't sure how he should feel, for he now had more than four months of Slytherin life to get through. Still, after that, he would be free to leave, and perhaps he would even be allowed to choose to move to Gryffindor. That was more than he had dared to hope for since the moment the Sorting Hat had put him in Slytherin. Feeling slightly better, Harry followed Professor Mason out of the Headmistress's office and back down the spiral staircase.

Before they had taken more than two steps down the corridor, Cassy came rushing up behind them.

"The Headmistress says that she would like to speak with you, Professor Mason," Cassy said, glaring up at him not-so-subtly.

"Is that so? Very well, do you think you could see your brother safely back to the Slytherin common room, Ms. Wiggins?" Professor Mason said, smiling thinly in response to her glares. Cassy seemed rather surprised by the suggestion, but agreed to it immediately. Professor Mason nodded to both of them, gave Harry one last appraising look, and made his way back up to the Headmistress's office.

"He's a slippery one, isn't he?" Muttered Cassy as she led her brother back through the silent school. "Where does he get off, blocking the other teachers like that? They could all see that you shouldn't have been put into Slytherin, why didn't he just let you go?"

"Dunno," replied Harry, although that wasn't exactly true. Something that night must have convinced Professor Mason that he needed to keep him in Slytherin at all cost. What did he know about Harry that Harry himself didn't know? Or was he maybe just imagining things?

"Still, it's only for a few months, Halo, and then you'll be able to leave," Cassy said bracingly. "You'll be alright won't you? Just don't go making any enemies and you'll be just fine." Harry was a little surprised at how concerned his sister seemed, so he simply smiled at her and nodded. There was no point telling her that it was too late for that, or that there were already upperclassmen waiting for their chance to get revenge on him. That was something he would have to deal with for himself.

Cassy talked nearly the whole way back to the common room, but Harry didn't really listen to that much of it. He simply drew comfort from her presence, and from her desire to make him feel like everything was alright. Whether or not everything was going to turn out alright remained to be seen, but the fear that had twisting in his stomach all evening seemed to be dissipating slightly.

Before he knew Harry was once again facing the portrait of the sleeping Professor Slughorn, and he turned to Cassy with a lump in his throat. This was his home, for now at least, and she wouldn't be able to come in with him. Cassy seemed to read his thoughts, for she wrapped him up in a warm hug and said, "It's been a strange few months, hasn't it, Halo? I know this isn't what had in mind this summer when you dreamed of coming to Hogwarts, but I know that it will all work out for you. You'll see, as soon as classes start you'll be just like everyone else."

Harry nodded bravely and after one last hug Cassy disappeared back around the corner leading to the rest of the castle above. Harry was now completely alone, and after taking a minute or so to summon his courage he woke up the strange portrait in front of him and entered the common room, hoping that everyone will have gone to bed.

Harry very nearly got his wish… only one person remained in the common room, sitting cross-legged on the carpet and staring at the dying green fire burning in the fireplace. Atalanta's shining blonde hair rippled as she turned to face him, her beautiful face regarding him curiously.

"The famous Harry Wiggins," Atalanta said in a voice stronger and deeper than one would except from such a small girl. "The stories about you have been spiralling out of control this evening. Some seemed to think that you were going to change houses tonight, follow in your sister's footsteps, as it were. Obviously that rumour, at least, seems to have been untrue. You are a Slytherin after all."

"T-that's right," Harry said, intimidated by the girl in spite of himself. "Wait, do you, er, know my sister?"

"We've met," Atalanta said indifferently, and Harry felt a chill go through him as he saw that she was twirling her wand in her long fingers. "But that is not what interests me right now. Harper told me something this evening, something I would like to see for myself. Draw your wand, Harry Wiggins."

Harry didn't move, suddenly feeling very tired. Why did he have to go through all this, couldn't he just go to bed? How much magic was he expected to use before his first lesson?

"You might want to draw your wand, because I'm going to use mine regardless of what you do," Atalanta Selwyn said as she gracefully rose to her feet. There was nothing overly threatening about her, she was barely taller than he was himself, but Harry felt terrified of her. As she drew her wand high above her head, and Harry, even though he was scared, drew his wand, knowing he had no choice. He'd had a long day and really wasn't up for this, but he wasn't going to just sit back and let her curse him like this. If Atalanta wanted to see what he could do, he knew he'd have to show her.

"Good," Atalanta said with smile, "Now, let's see what you can do, Wiggins."

Before Harry could think Atalanta's wand arm moved subtly, emitting a jet of red light without her uttering a single word. "_Protego_!" Yelled Harry, but he was too slow, and his wand flew out of his hands and though the air. As it soared through the air, Atalanta caught it deftly behind her back without even turning around. Harry had never seen someone with that degree of body control. She must really be an exceptional seeker.

Atalanta raised his twisted wand in front of her, examining it curiously. "I've never seen anything like this, what is it made of?" She asked curiously, waving it around experimentally.

"Sycomore wood and Sphinx Teeth... can I have it back now?" Harry said, wishing after he'd spoken that it hadn't come out sounding like such a whine.

"I'm not going to break it," Atalanta said with a little laugh, "I just wanted to see if Liam was right. That one doesn't have too many brain cells, but in this case I think he might be on to something. _Auguamenti_," Atalanta commanded, pointing his wand at the fire place. Nothing happened, and Atalanta frowned down at the wand in her hand.

"_Auguamenti_," Atalanta repeated, and this time used her own wand and there was a small flash of blue light followed by a stream of clear water that completely doused the dying fire. She frowned again and tossed Harry's wand back to him with a little growl of frustration, as if Harry had done something to annoy her. He didn't like the look in her eye, and honestly Atalanta had no need to make herself look any more dangerous.

"So it's not the wand," Atalanta said, raising her wand over her head again. "Let's see if you can block me this time." She slashed with her wand again without uttering a single word, but this time Harry was ready for it. He moved his wand the way he had back in the classroom, saying, "_Protego,_" as she shot another jet of red light at him. This time his indigo shield formed in time, and as Atalanta's jet of red light hit his shield the light rippled, but his shield held.

Atalanta stared at him in wide-eyed surprise. Then she sent another jet of red with a flash of red light, followed by another. The shield wavered as the second jet hit his shield, and collapsed entirely as the third spell hit it, sending his wand once again flying through the air. Naturally, Atalanta caught it effortlessly, but she walked over to him and handed it back to him a second later.

"I've never seen anyone so young with so much raw power! I think you might be even stronger than me someday," Atalanta said. She seemed unable to decide whether she should be impressed or angry at him. Harry stood there nervously, but to his utter shock she put her arm around him and smiled broadly.

"Don't worry about a thing, little Wiggins, I'll keep the other Slytherins off your back. You stick with me, and I'll teach you everything you need to know. It would be a waste not to learn how to use all that power of yours. I could use an ally like you."

"Ally? Ally for what?" Harry asked in confusion. What was going on? What did Atalanta want from him?

"You can never have too many powerful friends, can you Wiggins?" Atalanta said with a glint in her eye. "Now get off to bed, you've had a long day."

That was certainly true, so Harry nervously bid Atalanta goodnight and climbed the stairs up to his dormitory. He entered as quietly as he could, but the other first year Slytherin boys seemed to be fast asleep. Harry changed as quietly as he could and got into bed. He did his best to fall asleep, but too many things had happened that evening for him to shut off his brain. Cassy had said that when classes started he would be just like everyone else. Harry didn't really understand much about what had happened that night, but there was one thing he did know. In this case, his sister was very, very wrong.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Start of Classes

When Harry awoke the next morning, the dormitory was empty and quiet. He didn't feel much like moving, but his watch said it was already 11 o'clock. He never slept this late in the morning, but then again he'd never had a day quite like the one before. With a sigh, he got ready to face the day... and the Slytherins that would fill it.

The common room was pretty empty when Harry descended down the stairs from the dormitory above, and he figured most of the people had probably gone down to breakfast already. Sunlight was streaming in through the opening in the far wall through the lake above, filling the room with a cheerier shade of green light. The common room really was amazing, and Harry would probably love it here if there weren't so many unpleasant people around.

As if on cue, Patrick Harper stood up from a nearby chair, flanked by three unpleasant looking Slytherin boys. Harry reached for his wand immediately, trying to not look as anxious as he felt. Was every day going to be like this?

"Easy there, half-breed," Patrick Harper said, giving Harry a smile so false that it just made the boy look hungry. Patrick's eyes were hard, but everything else about him was relaxed. "I'm not here to pick a fight with Atalanta's new toy."

"What do you want?" Harry said impatiently. Being called _half-breed_ and _Atalanta's new toy_ didn't sit well with him.

"Let's bury the hatchet, shall we? You just stay out of my way and I won't cause you any grief. Deal?" Patrick Harper said, putting out his hand.

Harry stared at the boy's hand, wondering what to do. He didn't like Harper one bit, but there was really no point in making the boy an enemy. It would be much smarter to just stay out of each other's way for four months and then leave him and everyone else in Slytherin behind. As satisfying as it would be to throw his offer back in his face, it wasn't a very smart idea. Harry reached out hesitantly and shook hands with the older boy.

"I don't like you much, Wiggins, but you're not worth tangling with Atalanta over," Harper said in a conversational sort of way. "Plus, you're not so bad. You didn't rat me out to Mason, and for that I'm grateful." Harry just nodded and turned away, leaving Harper and the others behind. Harry wondered why he thought that Harry hadn't ratted him out to Professor Mason when, in fact, he had done that exact thing. He hoped Patrick never found out the truth, because Harry would hate to think that he swallowed his pride and made peace with the bully for nothing.

"That was some good thinking, I actually expected you to refuse," said Samantha Crabbe unexpectedly. She was lounging on a nearby couch, watching him causally. Harry hadn't seen her there, and he wasn't sure why she was talking to him. "I guess you're not as dumb as you look, Simba," she added.

"Simba, what kind of lame nickname is that for Harry?" J.B. said from another nearby chair, holding what looked like a blueberry muffin covered with ketchup. Harry looked around quickly, wondering if there were anyone else hidden nearby that he hadn't seen. That was it, though, there was no one else was in this part of the common room.

"He's a character from a muggle cartoon, a lion. His hair looks more like a mane if you ask me." Samantha said defensively, as if she didn't like people questioning her nicknames.

"_Did _anyone ask you?" J.B. asked innocently, taking a bite of his muffin.

"You know that's disgusting, don't you? Why can't you just finish eating in the Great Hall like everyone else?" Samantha asked, glaring at him threateningly. Harry wondered why J.B. wasn't terrified of her. Samantha might seem positively _nice_ compared to Atalanta, but she was still scary enough.

"What did you mean when you said it was good thinking?" Harry said, directing his question at Samantha. Compared to the other Slytherins, these two didn't seem all that bad. He could at least talk to them without getting the urge to punch them.

"It's a smart strategy to pretend make peace with your enemies, at least the ones you cannot easily defeat," Samantha said, as if it were obvious. "It's clear that neither of you meant what you said, but refusing his hand would have been pointless. It would have just given him an excuse to mess with you. Even so, there are plenty of idiots who would have refused to even pretend to make peace, claiming it was too dishonest or some such nonsense. You're more of a Slytherin than I would have expected."

She probably meant for the words to be a compliment, but Harry didn't take them as such. "You're wrong!" He muttered, walking past them and towards the exit of the common room without saying goodbye. Just as he reached the portrait hole, it swung open and Clytemnestra Lestrange entered, all alone. She looked at him for only a fraction of a second before dropping her eyes and hurrying past him without a word. Harry was a little sick of Slytherins at the moment, so he didn't give her another glance. Whatever her deal was, he found he didn't really care much about it today.

He spent the rest of the day alone, half-exploring, half-hiding from everyone. He went to lunch as early as possible, grabbing two sandwiches and heading out to the grounds. He sat by the lake, watching various students playing and enjoying the good weather. He felt no desire to join any of them, instead he sat absorbed in his thoughts. _More of a Slytherin than I would have expected_, Samantha Crabbe had said... was that true? With a scowl, Harry threw stones into the lake for a while before deciding to go back inside and explore more of the castle.

By day's end, he had wandered all around the school, from the dungeons to the top of the Astronomy Tower. He didn't know where everything was, not by any means, but he learned a thing or two about getting around. Hopefully that meant he wouldn't get too lost going to classes on Monday. As he made his way back to the Slytherin common room at the end of the day, he decided at last that Samantha had been wrong. It had simply been the rational, intelligent thing to do in that situation. Ravenclaw... he was meant to be in Ravenclaw. That was where he belonged.

Sunday passed in much the same way. He avoided everyone as much as possible, using only a few words if someone did speak to him. Harry passed Professor Dimock in the halls, and was unable to get away from her until he reassured her several times that he was doing "fine". He just wanted to get away from everyone, even Cassy, and so he went where no one would think to look for him. He spent the afternoon sitting on the ledge of the Astronomy Tower, gazing down across the grounds of Hogwarts Castle. He found that he had way too many thoughts in his head, and he couldn't seem to find a way to sort through them all. His life was far more complicated now than it had ever been before. He looked down across the grounds, wondering how he should feel.

Hogwarts was just as amazing as he imagined it would be, but things were very different then he'd pictured they'd be. Everything was wrong for him, or at least not what he had expected or wanted. The Sorting Hat had placed him in Slytherin; not once but _twice_. Why though? What had it seen in him that made it place him there? Samantha had said she could see it too, but did that mean that the hat was right? Was he truly different from Cassy, Rose, Albus, James, Annie, Shandra and all the others? He sighed and just gave up, deciding that all this was way too big for him to understand. There's no point to any of this thinking, was there? He was just thinking in circles over and over again, trying to come up with answers he didn't have. All he knew, really, was that he wanted to be alone. Naturally, that was when he heard footsteps. Moments later, two completely unexpected people joined him.

"Oh, there you are," said Atalanta Selwyn, coming to stand beside the ledge he was sitting on. "See, you worry too much, Wiggins."

"Halo, where have you been?" demanded Cassy angrily. "And get down from there this instant. You could fall and kill yourself!"

Harry was so shocked that the two of them had found him, and even more shocked that they had looked together, that he complied almost immediately. "Wha... sorry, sis. Um, what are you two doing here… together? A-are you two friends?"

Atalanta and Cassy exchanged glances, and both turned away in a huff. "Friends? No way," Cassy said viciously, "I can't stand her. But, well, we were both looking for you so..."

"_I_ was looking for you. I'm not sure_ what_ this fool was doing," Atalanta said, crossing her arms.

"Oh, I'm a fool am I, Selwyn? Is that why Slytherin loses every game of Quidditch you play in?"

"Oh, I didn't see you on a broom out there, Wiggins. Most likely you'd fall right off."

"Finn is gone, and I'm going to be the next Ravenclaw seeker. Just wait and see, Selwyn."

"Oh goodness, I can't wait," Atalanta said sarcastically, "Hopefully your flying is better than your duelling. I'd hate to beat you that easily at everything."

"You want to settle this?" Raged Cassy, whipping out her wand. Atalanta went to draw her own wand, and Harry figured he'd better do something.

"Hey, whoa there, you two. Calm down, yeah?" Harry said, stepping between them. Both girls folded their arm again and stared in opposite directions. Harry gazed at his sister in amazement, surprised by how she was acting. Cassy loved to pick fights, sure, but this was a new level... even for her.

"Why were you looking for me?" He asked, resigned that he had to deal with these two at least.

"I was worried, Halo... I haven't seen you since Friday!" Cassy said reproachfully, and Harry started to feel a tad guilty.

"Sorry, Cass, I was just..."

"Don't coddle, him, Wiggins," Atalanta said with a wave of her hand, "He's stronger than he looks."

"Oh what do you know, Selwyn?"

"More than you, birdbrain!"

"Birdbrain? Why you ugly, little, snake-faced..."

"UGLY?" roared Atalanta, reaching for her wand again.

"Hey, cut it out, alright?" Harry said, alarmed at the look on Atalanta's face. How was Cassy not terrified of her?

Both the girls stopped talking again, glaring at each other so furiously that Harry half-expected them to both burst into flames. "I guess we should go back down, huh? Classes start tomorrow," Harry said, trying to defuse the tension.

"Yeah we should. So, um, it's almost dinner time, Halo," Cassy said tentatively. "You should really eat something."

Harry nodded half-heartedly, almost ashamed that she was so hesitant. When he was little, he had thrown huge tantrums whenever Mother tried to get him to eat things. Most of the magic that he'd used as a kid had been during those times, including turning all the broccoli on his plate into pizza. Father had laughed his head off, but Mother had been furious and sent him straight to his room. Cassy probably didn't want him to throw a tantrum on her. That was unfair though, since he hadn't thrown a tantrum like that in... well... um... okay, it was only about a year. Still, a year was a long time, he was completely different now. Harry set off down the stairs, unaware for a moment that the girls weren't following him. He stopped suddenly, just out of sight, and heard Cassy say to Atalanta.

"I know we don't really get along, Atalanta, but would you please watch over him?"

"I will. Not that... I—I mean... I don't like you, but I would never let anything happen to your brother."

"Thank you," whispered Cassy, so softly that Harry could barely hear it.

"Shut up," Atalanta said, her voice extra aggressive, as if she was uncomfortable with the understanding they had just reached.

"Don't tell me to shut up, you stupid blonde... uh... snake!"

"Oooo, snake, how original!"

"So, you guys coming?" Harry called up to them, pretending like he hadn't heard their exchange. Clearly these two loved fighting each other. That made, well, not friends exactly, but... something. Was this why Atalanta had really waited up for him that night? Was this why she was protecting him? She couldn't actually want him as an ally, could she? After all, she was a fifth-year, and he had just gotten here. Hogwarts was a confusing place... and classes hadn't even started!

Harry bid Cassy goodbye as they passed the Ravenclaw table and went reluctantly over to the Slytherin table to have some dinner. He expected Atalanta to sit somewhere else, but she sat right across from him, glaring at the second-year girls sitting nearby.

"Leave," she said simply, eyes narrowed aggressively. The Slytherin girls didn't need to be told twice, scurrying away fearfully.

"Um, Atalanta, you didn't need to do that," Harry said uncomfortably.

Atalanta just shrugged, helping herself to a large chicken leg. "They might be spies for Violet or Patrick. Those two are always trying to have me followed, as if I would just give away my secrets."

"W-what?" Harry asked startled. She made it sound so serious. Just what sort of place was Slytherin?

"Don't worry about that for now," Atalanta said, waving her hand dismissively, "I have something important to ask you."

"Um, alright," Harry said, drinking a sip of pumpkin juice and grabbing a tiny loaf of bread. He really wasn't very hungry.

"Why does your sister call you Halo?" Demanded Atalanta aggressively, brandishing her fork at him. "What does it mean? I must know."

Harry stared at her, utterly confused. Was she really this intense all the time, even about silly little things like this? "Mean? It doesn't mean anything. It's just because my first name is Harry and middle name is Lawrence, and so she just combined my two names, sort of, into Halo. It's just a nonsense name, um, and actually I don't like it all that mu..."

"Good, good," Atalanta said absently, ignoring him. "I like that name, it suits you, Halo. Oh, and if anyone asks, I thought of it, not your sister." She added, eyes flashing.

"Oh, sure, whatever you want, Atalanta." Harry said meekly, nibbling his loaf of bread.

"Don't worry about your classes tomorrow, they'll be easy for someone as strong as you," Atalanta said. "But don't slack off, or you'll never reach your potential. That would be such a waste, for both of us."

There it was again, but just what did she want from him? "Um, Atalanta..."

"Never mind that for now, just do your best," she said, cutting across him. "But don't come running to me for every little problem, you got that? You need to learn to stand on your own."

"Wha..."

"Oh, and one more thing. Don't be so distant from your classmates. It's foolish to act like you're better than they are, even if you are. It just breeds resentment."

"I..."

"Off you go, Halo, and don't worry too much. I'll be watching you, just in case."

"But..."

Atalanta's eyes flashed again, and Harry knew that his time with her was done. He was having a really hard time figuring her out, but this much he did know. If she said they were done talking, then they were done. He went back to the common room and avoided everyone, sitting in his dormitory and scanning his textbooks until he fell asleep. That night his dreams were all nightmares involving a long haired demon lady chasing him with a whip made of snakes. Quite honestly, though, the real Atalanta was probably scarier.

Monday morning came at last and Harry followed the other Slytherin first years up through the dungeons to the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry hadn't actually eaten breakfast there yet, and found that he was much hungrier than usually would be, probably due to the fact that he'd eaten almost nothing for several days. He helped himself to large portions of eggs, ham and toast and immediately began stuffing his face.

"So I wonder what our first class will be like," J.B. said excitedly. His plate was almost identical to Harry's, except that it was completely covered with ketchup.

"Liam says that Professor Evergreen dislikes Slytherins, and I bet it will be even worse since we are with the Gryffindors." Courtney said, watching J.B. eat with an expression of amazed revulsion.

"Wait, we have Potions with the Gryffindors?" Harry asked, looking up suddenly. When had they gone over the schedule?

"Professor Mason went over the schedule last night," Courtney said. "Where were you, Half-breed?"

Scorpius and Kevin laughed at the nickname, but Samantha and J.B. didn't join in as Harry felt his ears turn red. Why did they have to be such gits? Clytemnestra, who was sitting a little ways away, showed no reaction at all to their conversation... she was too busy buttering a piece of toast with a fork. She really was strange, but Harry figured he'd rather sit with her all day long than spend five minutes with Courtney. At least it would be quiet.

"Harry was probably just busy," J.B. with a casual shrug. "You didn't miss much, mate, you can copy my schedule later. We have double Potions with the Gryffindors this morning, which is going to suck. Then it's Herbology and Charms in the afternoon, both with the Hufflepuffs."

"We always have classes with another House?" Harry asked, wishing he hadn't forgotten about the meeting. What had he been thinking?

"Of course," Courtney said annoyingly. "Otherwise, the professors would have far too many classes to teach. We have to make sure we beat whoever we have classes with, especially those_ Hufflepuffs_. There aren't that many of us, so we all have to pull our weigh, you got that, Wiggins?"

"I don't think we need to worry about him, you saw what he did in the classroom," Kevin said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "She's the one I'm worried about, she can barely even talk." He indicated Clytemnestra Lestrange, who was still sitting all alone, nibbling her piece of toast. "I don't want her dragging us down."

To Harry's surprise, the others all nodded. He couldn't believe it, did they all care about winning that much? There wasn't even a formal contest between the two houses in a class, at least not as far as he knew, but they all wanted to win anyways. Harry said nothing the rest of breakfast, following the others silently back to the dungeons where their Potions class met.

There were a handful of large tables scattered around, and Harry decided to go to a completely separate table than the other Slytherins. They were really started to bother him, and he would much rather be alone. Clytemnestra went all the way to the back, but Harry stayed at a table near the front, both avoiding the other five Slytherins. The Gryffindors came all at once, and Harry saw that there were several more of them then there were Slytherins. Most of them quickly grouped around the remaining tables, completely avoiding both his table and Clytemnestra's. Harry was completely shocked when Rose Weasley sat down beside him, placing her own cauldron right beside his. Albus joined them as well, but he looked pretty unsure about the whole thing.

"Hi, Harry, hope you had a good weekend," Rose said, as if nothing unusual had happened the past few days. "How's being in Slytherin?"

"Uh, pretty lousy to be honest," Harry said quietly, so the other Slytherins wouldn't hear him. He didn't need them disliking him anymore.

"Told you he would say that," Rose said to Albus, who looked slightly more comfortable. "James has been saying all sort of nonsense, that there was something wrong with you and so on," Rose said, shaking her head angrily. "That boy's brain is so full of dung sometimes."

Harry stared at Rose in wonder, unable to believe that she still wanted to be friends with him. He had been sure that she and all the other Gryffindors would hate him for where he was sorted. Had he had been wrong after all? As Professor Evergreen entered and called the class to order, Harry felt better than he had in days.

"Today you will begin your study of potions," Professor Evergreen said in a friendly tone. "It is not an easy subject, full of nuance and subtlety that many find hard to master. However, you can all rest assured that I will guide you as best I can, and I have confidence that most of you have what it takes to be excellent potioneers." He paused for a moment before continuing in a harder tone. "A word of warning, though. Carelessness will not be tolerated in this classroom, neither will malicious pranks. Potions can be very dangerous if brewed incorrectly, and anyone found tampering with another's potion will leave and never return." His eyes lingered on the Slytherin table. "Now, let us begin. When I call your name, please indicate that you are here. Haley Azure?"

"Here," said a thin Gryffindor girl with short brown hair.

Professor Evergreen proceeded to call the rest of the names, but Harry didn't pay any attention. His own would be called last, so he didn't have to worry about missing it. He glanced at the Slytherin table, all of whom looked slightly sulky that the Professor had called them out like that. Harry understood why Evergreen might feel a special need to warn them, but it wasn't really fair, was it? Sure, the house had a bad reputation, but none of them had done anything to warrant such suspicion. Aside from Kevin and maybe Courtney, he couldn't picture any of the Slytherins trying to hurt anyone else for a laugh. They were all just kids after all.

"Clytemnestra Lestrange?" Called Professor Evergreen, his voice completely neutral.

"H-here," came the very quiet response from the back.

The Gryffindors immediately began muttering to each other, and Rose stared at the girl intently, her curiosity unmistakable.

"Settle down, everyone," Professor Evergreen ordered, his own eyes watching Clytemnestra with great interest. "You can't sit back there all alone, Miss Lestrange," he said. "Why don't you come join Mr. Wiggins, Ms. Weasley and Mr. Potter up here?"

The entire class watched as Clytemnestra gathered her things and moved over to Harry's table, sitting opposite him. She didn't look at any of them, but Harry saw that she was once again shaking slightly. What did she have to be afraid of here? He was thinking so intently that he almost missed the Professor call his name... actually he would have if Rose hadn't elbowed him to get his attention. Harry shook his head to clear it and listened as the Professor began to speak.

"Alright everyone, please copy this down," Professor Evergreen said cheerfully waving his wand at the blackboard when he was finished calling roll. "After that you'll get right down to brewing a potion that turns your tongue blue. It's a silly little potion of my own invention. It's not very useful, but it's simple and a good introduction on how to brew correctly. And if any of you _do_ manage to make it correctly, at the end of class you'll each get to nominate someone in the class who has to drink your potion."

Harry glanced at Rose, who smiled wickedly at him. With a sigh, Harry began copying down the recipe, knowing without a doubt that his tongue was going to be blue for the rest of the day. He scribbled down the instructions with fierce determination. Well, if she was going to get him, then he was going to get her back.

The class was actually a lot of fun. Harry and Rose had a bit of a race about who could chop their gillyroot leaves faster. They had to be exact triangles, and when they were mixed with powdered cobalt it formed the basis of the potion. Even Albus joined in cheerfully, and Harry was having so much fun that he didn't notice at first that Clytemnestra was shaking worse than ever, staring at the leaves in front of her without moving to cut them.

"Hey, are you okay?" Harry asked, a little surprised he was actually speaking to her. She still made him feel uncomfortable, but he just hated to see her, or anyone really, looking like that.

"I-I'm fine," Clytemnestra replied in a quiet voice, but she made no move to continue making her potion. "I just... I don't like knives."

Harry exchanged glances with Rose, whose curiosity was so strong he could almost feel it. Harry didn't think, instead he instinctively reached out and exchanged her uncut leaves of his own perfect ones. There was no reason behind it, at least nothing he could consciously understand. He just hated it when people looked sad. It had nothing special to do with this strange, silent girl who everyone was afraid of. Nothing at all.

"Thank you," Clytemnestra said, staring at him with her sparkling blue eyes for a second before looking away again.

Harry didn't respond, instead he just began chopping up his new leaves. Rose's eyes went back and forth between the two of them, clearly thinking hard. "Um, Clytemnestra, I... I had a question, if that's okay?" Rose said hesitantly.

Clytemnestra said nothing, but nodded subtly. Albus stared at his cousin, his mouth slightly open, clearly amazed that she had the courage to talk to the girl. Harry had no idea what sort of things the Gryffindor first years had been saying to each other about her, but they probably all thought that she was some sort of monster.

"Is… er, are you the daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange?" Rose said, her eyes wide as if she was amazed with herself for asking such a direct question.

Clytemnestra dropped her head suddenly, offering no reply. "Sorry, I didn't mean-" Rose said nervously.

"Yes," replied Clytemnestra at last; "Yes, she is my mother."

"How is that possible?" Rose said in wonder. Clytemnestra again gave no response, and instead began grinding up her cobalt, her hands shaking.

"Sorry," muttered Rose. She looked half-ashamed at her curiosity, "I, erm, guess you don't like to talk about it, do you?"

"If she were your mother, would you want to talk about it?" Clytemnestra replied in a faint whisper. No one had any response to that, and they worked the rest of the class in silence.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 How to Make Gold

Harry and Rose were the last ones to leave Potions class, both sporting brilliant blue tongues that they'd given one another. There was no rush, for the others had said that first-years didn't have any classes on Monday until after lunch. Harry wasn't hungry, since he had actually eaten breakfast that day, so instead of going back to the Slytherin common room (where he had no desire to be), he suggested to Rose that they go outside. She nodded distractedly and was silent as Harry led her to this favourite little hill that overlooked the lake. It was funny to think that he already had a favourite spot, since he had been here for all of four days. Hogwarts really was a special place. Harry could have been happy just sitting in the sun and staring out across the lake, but Rose was so preoccupied that it was distracting.

"Whachya thinking about?" Harry said at last, mostly because he was tired of being ignored. He most likely wouldn't be all that interested in whatever was eating her up. Rose was a lot like his sister in some ways, both were obsessed with getting to the bottom of every mystery they came across. Harry, on the other hand, could rarely muster the energy to care that much.

"I can't figure it out," Rose said, biting her lip. Her blue tongue was just visible between her teeth, and it made her look like she was suffering from some terrible disease.

"Well, I'm glad you cleared that up," Harry sighed, looking out across the lake again. Let her worry away to his heart's content. He was going to enjoy the sunshine.

"What?" Rose asked, not really listening to him. "No, it's just I can't figure out why she would lie."

"Lie... what do you mean?"

"Don't tell me you _believe_ that girl is actually the daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange?" Rose said in disbelief.

"W-well, why not?" Harry said defensively. He'd had no reason not to take Clytemnestra's word for it, and his first instinct had been to believe her.

"Harry," Rose said, shaking her head in patient bemusement, as if he were being incredibly foolish. "Bellatrix Lestrange was killed nineteen years ago at the Battle of Hogwarts. That girl is only eleven years old. You see the problem there, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Harry snapped, mostly because he felt stupid that he had realized no such thing. "It's just... well… she didn't sound like she was lying, did it?"

"No," agreed Rose, "No she didn't."

"Could it be that Bellatrix wasn't actually killed?" Harry asked hesitantly, trying to remember the stories that Cassy and Uncle Terry had told him of Battle of Hogwarts. Of the two of them, Uncle Terry's accounts were much more memorable and far less reliable, despite the fact that he had actually been there. Harry's uncle tended to... add things. He doubted, for instance, that Harry Potter and his companions had really flown to the battle on a dragon. That was simply ridiculous. Where… where would they have even _gotten_ a dragon?

"No, she was killed," Rose said quietly. "People don't really talk about it much, but it was Grandma Weasley who killed her in the end. I heard her talk about it once when I was supposed to be asleep upstairs. She definitely did it."

"Then... then I don't know," Harry said lamely, trying to think. Why would Clytemnestra think that she was the daughter of someone who died before she was born? That made no sense.

"All righ', Rosie?" Came the booming voice of Hagrid, who was walking past with two dozen logs in his massive arms. "How's yer firs' day goin'?"

"Hello, Hagrid," Rose said distractedly. Suddenly her eyes widened as she turned excitedly to peer up at the big groundskeeper. "Say, Hagrid, you're a professor, and a pretty important person around here, aren't you?"

"Oh I don' know abou' all tha'," Hagrid said, trying (and failing) to sound modest. "Course I am a senior professor, mind you."

"Then you must know about the Lestrange girl!" Rose said eagerly.

"Well now," Hagrid said in an unconvincingly airy tone, "What makes you say tha'?" They both stared at him without comment, and after a moment Hagrid scowled. "Yer as nosy as those parents of yers. The trouble they gave me when they were here... don' even get me started on tha'." Hagrid continued to scowl furiously, but there was simply no way to say no to Rose's eager smile. "Hmph. As a matter o' fact, all the professors were told about her, but it'll do you no good askin', I won' tell yeh... so don' even try it."

"But..." protested Rose.

"So who's yer young friend?" Hagrid said, clearly changing the subject. "Tha's quite a mane of hair yer got there, lad."

"I'm Harry, Harry Wiggins," Harry said nervously. If Professor Hagrid really was a senior professor, had he also already heard about Harry? Did he already not trust him like James Potter and who knows how many others?

"Are yeh now?" Hagrid said neutrally, studying him. Hagrid wasn't particularly scary, but he was still a huge man. Harry swallowed nervously.

"I had your sister Cassandra in my class this mornin', she's a good egg," Hagrid said, which Harry thought was encouraging. "Why don't the two of yeh come 'round fer tea on Friday, an' bring those Potter cousins of yers if yeh can. Some of yer cousins visit from time to time, Rosie, but ever since Teddy Lupin graduated no one visits regularly."

"Will you tell us about the Lestrange girl if we come?" Rose asked, merciless in her curiosity.

"I most certainly won'," Hagrid growled, brandishing a log at them in a scolding sort of way. "Now get goin' to lunch or yeh'll be late on yer firs' day."

"Alright," Rose said brightly, "see you Friday, Hagrid!" The sparkle in her eyes left no doubt in Harry's mind that she wouldn't leave Hagrid's without her answers.

Rose looked positively cheerful as she and Harry made their way back up to the castle. Harry was less optimistic that Hagrid was going to actually tell them anything, but he thought it was best not to tell her so. She was much better company when she wasn't obsessing.

"So what do you have this afternoon? We have History of Magic and then Herbology with the Ravenclaws," Rose said. She seemed way too interested in her classes.

"Herbology and then Charms, both with the Hufflepuffs," Harry said without much enthusiasm.

Rose nodded and said, "Makes sense, since if both your classes are with the Hufflepuffs ours would be with the Ravenclaws. Nev—I mean... Professor Longbottom teaches Herbology and he's an old friend of my parents. He's really nice to everyone."

"No way, Neville Longbottom teaches at Hogwarts?" Harry said, completely stunned. His sister had never mentioned that! He had never imagined that she would leave out so many things. "Did he really kill Voldemort's snake with the Sword of Gryffindor?"

"Sure, he loves to tell that story," Rose said with a laugh, "You'll see, that class will be a blast."

They went to lunch, and as they passed the Gryffindor table Rose cheerfully said goodbye to him. Harry sat all alone at the end of the Slytherin table, glancing at the food without much enthusiasm. Food didn't interest him, but the afternoon he had ahead of him certainly did. He could never remember being more excited for a class in his whole life. That was no surprise, really, since South London International Grade School didn't have a class on magical plants taught by one of his personal heroes. If it had, well, then he might have been just as excited to go to school then too.

Harry went down to greenhouse one alone, since none of the other first-year Slytherins seemed to be around. As he entered the greenhouse, the distinctive smell of growing things filled his nostrils and put him at ease. It reminded him of his grandparent's house in the country that he'd visited often when he was younger. A few years back, Grandma Boot had shown him all her favourite herbs and plants from her garden as well as her collection of giant pumpkins. Harry had loved visiting that cottage, just to get a sense of what living surrounded by magic was really like. He had never realized how much he associated the smell of growing things with the feeling of magic. Now both life and magic were all around, surrounded him completely. _I'm really here_, Harry thought to himself as he walked through the greenhouse, _I'm really at Hogwarts... this class is going to be great_!

The Hufflepuffs were already there, clustered five to a table around two four-person tables. That took some of the wind out of Harry's sails as he quietly made his way over one of the other empty tables. Were they really so afraid of being stuck with a Slytherin that they all crowded together for safety? He didn't recognize any of the Hufflepuffs except for Sora, who he had sat with on the boat ride over from Hogsmede station. Sora didn't look over at him, and Harry tried not to feel hurt. Look, he didn't expect a friendly wave or anything like that, but he had really liked the fellow when they'd met briefly. How many people were going to hate him for where he'd been sorted? James... Sora... the list is getting longer, Harry thought to himself sadly, sitting all alone on a long bench that was half covered in dirt.

Samantha Crabbe came in next. She glared dismissively at the Hufflepuffs crowding around their table before sitting down beside Harry. "Damn, Simba, they look like we're going to attack them," she said, gesturing angrily at the Hufflepuffs. Harry was feeling pretty lousy by this point, and had no response.

"Careful," Samantha said loudly to a little Hufflepuff boy who was looking at them nervously, "He likes to bite people, I can't always control him." She made a big show of grabbing Harry's shoulder as if to restrain him. The boy's eyes widened in terror, but it seemed as if the boy couldn't look away. Without warning, Samantha snapped her teeth at the boy, and he looked away so quickly that he stumbled backwards. Harry shrugged Samantha off of him and glared at her. What was she thinking, going after the kid like that? Sure, it was annoying the way complete strangers were looking at them, but that was no excuse for...

"You think it's funny to torment someone for no reason?" Sora asked quietly, emerging from behind the table to stand across from Samantha. "It seems like all the things that people say about the House of Slytherin is true."

"No, it's not..." Harry started to say, but no one seemed to be listening to him. Samantha stood up too, moving to stand face to face with Sora. She was a few inches tall than he was, but Sora didn't look the least bit afraid.

"It's funny, isn't it... how everything ends up being our fault," Samantha said quietly. "The moment I walked in this class all you little 'Puffs were wetting yourselves because the big, scary Slytherins had arrived. What choice did I have? You've all decided you know everything about me."

"Everyone is responsible for their own actions," Sora said, not backing down an inch. "If you are not what people say you are, you just have to show them."

"But why should I always have to?" Whispered Samantha, so quietly that no one except Sora and Harry who was sitting nearby heard her. She sounded hurt, almost vulnerable... something Harry would never have expected from her.

"We all do, that is just the way of the world. You are not the only one with things to prove," Sora said, holding her eyes. No one spoke as the seconds dragged on; every eye in the classroom was on the two of them.

"I'm sorry," Samantha said at last, turning to face the Hufflepuff boy who dropped his eyes the moment she turned to face him. "I shouldn't have gone at you like that." The boy just stared at her blankly. He looked more confused than anything else.

"And you," Samantha said, turning back to glare at Sora, "keep your lessons to yourself... and stay the hell out of my way." She bumped her shoulder into him as she walked past him, returning to sit beside Harry. Sora said nothing, but glanced over at Harry, nodded to him in recognition, and calmly returned to his seat.

"What an annoying git," Samantha muttered to Harry, gesturing at Sora as the other Slytherins (minus Clytemnestra) entered and sat together at the table across from them. Harry shrugged noncommittally. He would never have had the courage to say something like that to her, even though he had been thinking many of the same things as Sora. That boy was really something.

Professor Longbottom came bustling in moments later, saying "Sorry I'm late, everyone!" He had a round, bearded face and a cheerful manner. He bustled around a bit, setting a few pieces of paper and a shiny little plant down on his desk before turning back to face them all. "Lost track of time and then forgot where I put my roster. I never did find that, actually," the Professor said, frowning at himself. "Well than, why don't you all go around the room and introduce yourselves. Why don't you start, miss?" Professor Longbottom said, gesturing to Samantha.

"Oh, I..." Samantha said, taken a bit by surprise. It was funny to see her flustered, and she looked much nicer when she wasn't scowling at everything. "My name is Samantha Crabbe."

Professor Longbottom looked at her curiously. Some of his early good cheer seemed to have evaporated. "I don't remember seeing that name on my roster this morning..."

"Well, it probably said Samantha F-Fisher," she said quietly, her hands curling themselves into fists under the table where only Harry could see them. "But I ha— um, don't go by that name... so please call me Crabbe... Professor."

"Alright, Ms. Crabbe," Professor Longbottom said, nodding kindly, "How about you, young man."

"Harry Wiggins, sir," Harry said self-consciously. Why was it that he was always so nervous when everybody was looking at him?

And so they went around the room, everyone introducing themselves. The Hufflepuffs were named Amber Fortescue, Tammy Twiddle, Curtis Nash, Otto McLaggen and so on. Harry tried his best to keep their names straight, but it was too many people introduced too quickly. The little boy that Samantha had scared was named Harry Warren... that one he could remember. He always felt a bond of sorts with the other Harrys of the world, as if the name they shared connected them somehow. He tried to catch Harry Warren's eye, but the boy was too nervous to look in his direction. That special connection stuff is probably just wishful thinking, Harry thought with a sigh.

About halfway through Harry noticed that Clytemnestra still hadn't shown up. Where was she? Had something happened to her? He wasn't scared for her, of course, but it was strange that she would go missing. Bunking off on the first day didn't bode well.

They'd finished introducing themselves and Professor Longbottom had begun his introductory lecture on Herbology and the study of magic plants when Professor Mason entered, followed by Clytemnestra Lestrange, who looked as if she were trying to hide behind her long black hair.

"Sorry to disturb, Professor Longbottom, but I happened upon a missing student of yours," Professor Mason said casually.

"Oh?" Professor Longbottom said, regarding the girl curiously, "and who might you be?"

They three of them were standing right in front of the table where Harry and Samantha were sitting, and when Clytemnestra raised her head Harry got a good look at her face. She looked haunted, her eyes utterly dark... just like she had in the Great Hall as she had passed him after being sorted into Slytherin. It looked like she was wearing a mask, and in a toneless voice she said, "My name is Clytemnestra Lestrange. I'm sorry that I'm late."

Professor Longbottom didn't say anything as Clytemnestra moved past him and sat down at the table with Harry and Samantha, but the lines on his face grew hard. His mouth arranged itself in a frown and Harry could see the faint outline of an old scar, just below the Professor's left eye.

"Neville..." Professor Mason said very quietly, his tone as full of concern as Harry had ever heard it.

"Thank you for bringing my missing student, Orpheus, but if you would please excuse yourself, I have a class to teach," Professor Longbottom said in a firm voice. "Be sure to arrive on time in the future Miss... Miss, or I will be forced to give you detention," Professor Longbottom said, seemingly unable to look at Clytemnestra or say her name.

Professor Mason nodded and turned to leave, giving Professor Longbottom a pat on the shoulder as passed him. Harry couldn't figure out what was going on, but everyone seemed to be a bit on edge. Professor Longbottom continued his lecture on Herbology for a few minutes. He seemed distracted and far less cheerful than he had been at the beginning of class. After he was done he said, "The best way to learn, of course, is to just dive right in. Why don't we get started growing some Indonesian Gold Lettuce?"

"Indonesian what?" Harry Warren said from one of the Hufflepuff tables, eyes as wide as saucers.

"Indonesian Gold Lettuce, Harry, is a rare plant native to one of the many uninhabited, unnamed islands in the archipelago nation of Indonesia. A friend of mine discovered the plant by accident when she was traveling the world in search of Nargle colonies," Professor Longbottom said, smiling fondly. Harry exchanged glanced with Samantha and was relieved to see the words didn't mean anything to her either. "It is extremely poisonous if eaten, so make sure none of you put any in your mouth by mistake."

"So if it's poisonous, why are we growing it?" Scorpius asked in a rather rude tone.

"Good question, Malfoy," Professor Longbottom said, giving Scorpius an odd look that Harry didn't really understand. "Because when flubberworms eat this lettuce it leaves behind two things, mucous and powdered gold dust."

"No way," Courtney whispered, her horse-face flushed with excitement.

"Yes way," Professor Longbottom said with a smile. "So, let's all get started."

The other students were as excited as Harry had ever seen them, listening closely as Professor Longbottom instructed them on the proper way to care for the strange golden plant he had brought with him. He handed out plants to each table, but Harry's table didn't get one.

"There is a special task that needs doing, if you don't mind," Professor Longbottom said after the other tables had got down to work. His voice seemed rather strained, and he had a big box in his hands that Harry couldn't see inside.

"These are flubberworms," the Professor said, placing the box down in front of them. It was full of maybe a hundred disgusting little worm things wriggling all over each other. "I need someone to make sure that they are all alive and healthy. You three don't mind doing it, do you?" Professor Longbottom was clearly refusing to look at Clytemnestra, although he seemed to be talking only to her.

"Um, wait a second..." Samantha started to say, staring at the box of flubberworms in front of her in horror.

"I don't mind," Clytemnestra said quietly, her dead eyes watching the worms squirm. Professor Longbottom nodded uncomfortably and walked away. Harry thought that he looked very troubled... almost guilty. Well, he should! Harry thought as he watched the professor walk over to one of the Hufflepuff tables. Why were they being singled out like this? Harry gulped and turned to look at the mass of flubberworms before him. Samantha was muttering furiously to herself as she reached into her bag to get her protective gloves while Clytemnestra calmly reached into the box and grabbed a slimy handful of the things. She must have something to do with this, it was almost as if she were being specifically punished for something. Whatever it is, she doesn't seem to think it's unfair. Does that mean that she really _was_...? No, it doesn't matter now. I need to think about this later. Harry shook his head to clear it.

"You look like an idiot when you shake your head like that, Simba," Samantha said rudely, grimacing as she put her hand into the box. "Now hurry up and help me get this over with. I never agreed to help the silent princess with her issues." She glared at Clytemnestra, who said nothing; her face a perfect masks as she calmly focused all her attention on the flubberworms.

Harry sighed and pulled his own gloves out of his bag. This was not at all how he had expected the class to go.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 Sides

Charms class was beyond boring, mostly because they didn't use any magic. Sure, Professor Dimock was nice, happy, and cheerful... but Harry was in no mood to appreciate that sort of thing. He was bored and unbelievably sticky as he sat there waiting for her to finish her stupid lecture. Before that afternoon's Herbology class, Harry had never given much thought to how uncomfortably sticky someone could get in a single hour. Oh, and apparently, wearing gloves didn't do a thing against flubberworm slime except keep his hands a tiny bit less sticky than the rest of him.

Samantha was in a foul mood too and sat as far away from the others as the little classroom would allow her to. Harry didn't really blame her, since even he was having a hard time resisting the urge to glare at Clytemnestra. He knew it wasn't her fault, not really, but it was hard not to feel resentful. The other Slytherins didn't help, they seemed to find the whole situation hilarious. He was sticky... it was Clytemnestra's fault... this class is boring. Charms class was spent pondering innumerable meaningful thoughts like these.

Harry practically sprinted back to the Slytherin common room at the end of class. Other people might be getting ready to go outside, maybe enjoy the end of their first day of classes, but not Harry. Harry needed to shower and change. Hurray for flubberworm slime.

"Serpensortia," Harry muttered dully to the portrait of the sleeping Professor Slughorn, who naturally didn't wake up. Harry couldn't help but sigh. The day had started out so well, but had really gone downhill from there. He didn't want to tap on the portrait to wake the Professor up, because that would get it all sticky. Should he yell to get the portrait's attention, or was that rude? Before he could make up his mind about what to do, the portrait swung open from the inside and a number of older students filed out, talking loudly to each other.

"-seen her face when Amelia hit her with it," a tall black girl who Harry didn't know was cheerfully telling Patrick Harper. "That purple moustache won't fade in a hurry."

"Serves her right, the insufferable hag," said another girl with tangled brown hair muttered to Atalanta, who was the last one out of the portrait hole. "Ooo, look at me, I'm sooo talented and pretty," the girl continued in a shrill, sing-song impression of someone. "All the boys drool over my perfect blonde hair. But really it's just because I'm a giant sl-"

"Halo, what happened to you?" Atalanta said, cutting the other girl off. The other upperclassman clustered around him, their staring making him feel uncomfortable.

"Was it one of those damn Gryffs?" the girl with tangled hair asked, eyes narrowed angrily.

"What? No, this is just from Herbology." Harry said slightly confused. Why had they thought this had been the work of Gryffindors? They would never do something like this to him.

"What the hell did Big Bottom have you doing in Herbology?" Patrick Harper asked, exchanging a meaningful look with Atalanta.

Harry hesitated, not really sure what to say. He didn't know or trust any of these Slytherins, except maybe Atalanta. Honestly he didn't even trust her, mostly because he could never figure out what she wanted from him. But he couldn't think of any reason not to tell them what's happened, so he did.

"What is Big Bottom thinking, going after our first-years like that? Making just your table sort flubberworms is seriously messed up," the tall girl said, while the other muttered in agreement.

"We won't let them get away with this, Udoh," Patrick said, "People needed to be reminded that they can't walk all over our baby snakes. Good thing out next class is Herbology, right mates?" The Slytherins nodded firmly—all except for Atalanta, who looked especially thoughtful.

"What are you talking about?" Harry said before he could stop himself, "You're the one who tried to haze us."

"That's different," Harper said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "We have to make sure our fellow Slytherins are up to snuff. But that doesn't mean it's okay for anyone else to have a go at you."

Harry didn't think that logic made a whole lot of sense, but he figured he should probably stay quiet before he got himself back on Harper's bad side.

"So this is the Wiggins kid, huh?" One of the other boys said. "I swear they make the baby snakes teenier every year. Name's Florian Smith, by the way. I'd shake your hand, but it's a bit stick for my taste. You aren't offended, are you, little bugger?"

"Shut it, Florian, you're being more annoying that unusual," the tall girl said, smiling broadly at Harry. "My name's Destiny Udoh, it's nice to meet you."

"He's adorable, isn't he?" said the girl with tangled hair. "Oh, I'm Amelia Runcorn by the way." She ruffled his hair, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. She was being perfectly friendly to him, but he could tell from earlier that Amelia had a bit of a mean streak. "Don't worry, Halo," Amelia continued. "Just like Harper said, we won't let them get away with what they did to you. You don't mind if I call you Halo, do you, sweetie?"

"Uh…"

"Good," Amelia said happily, absentmindedly running her fingers through her thicket of hair. "It's such a good nickname, Lanti."

"Isn't it?" Atalanta said, looking incredibly pleased with herself, as if claiming Cassy's nickname as hers was the greatest of triumphs. He had never seen anyone so pleased with one-upping someone in such a pointless way. That girl really was obsessed with winning. "But enough dallying, we should get to Herbology," commanded Atalanta. "We wouldn't want to get in trouble for being late, would we?"

There was something about the way she said that last part that made Harry uncomfortable. The other Slytherins laughed as if she had just told a good joke and did exactly as she said. Everyone, that is, except Patrick, who glared at her for a moment before following the others down the hall. Harry just couldn't figure out what was going one, but he was nervous about one thing. "Atalanta," he said as she turned to go, "you aren't going make trouble, are you? It wasn't a big deal, really. I don't want anyone else to..."

"It's not about you, Halo," Atalanta said, cutting him off. She sure did that a lot. "It's about our pride. The students from the other houses, even the teachers sometimes, go after us because of what other Slytherins did decades ago. It doesn't matter one bit to anyone that none of us are or ever were Death Eaters, we're all guilty by association. It's worse for some of us, depending on the names we were born with." She lapsed into silence, staring at the wall behind Harry's head. "But of course," she continued in a somewhat lighter tone, "the fact that Longbottom went after you, of all people, makes it personal. I told the other Slytherins what would happen if they went after my Halo. I'm not backing down now."

"But..."

Nothing doing, she was already gone, following the other Slytherins down the hall without another word. "Well, are you coming in or not? It's exhausting, you know, hanging open like this," came the wounded voice of Professor Slughorn. Harry silently went inside the common room, trying not to worry too much. Atalanta and the others would really hurt anyone over something stupid like this, would they? Sure, he'd complained a bunch about what had happened, but that didn't mean he wanted revenge. Harry took a nice long shower and tried to forget all about it.

It wasn't until the following morning that Harry learned what they had done. He joined his fellow Slytherins for breakfast right in the middle of morning owl mail delivery. Therefore, Harry was a little too distracted to listen to what the others were saying at first.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Samantha said, reaching out to grab his arm.

"I-what?" Harry said, jumping slightly.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Kevin asked, eying him with his standard unfriendly look.

"N-nothing. Sorry, what were you saying?"

"He's afraid of owls," Scorpius said, his expression positively gleeful. Scorpius got so much grief from the others for being afraid of various things that he looked extremely pleased that someone else was going to get teased instead of him. Most of the time, Harry actually felt rather bad for the little boy. Now was not one of those times.

"I'm not afraid of them, it's just..." he muttered, fading into silence. It was no use… clearly no one believed him. Courtney's eyes sparkled with evil delight, as if she had gotten an early birthday present. Thankfully, though, Harry's embarrassing phobia was not the juiciest news topic of the morning.

"Whatever, scaredy cat," Samantha said, refusing to be distracted from her story for longer than it took to hand out an embarrassing nickname, "Did you hear what Selwyn and the other Slytherin fifth years did?" Harry shook his head, having heard nothing of the kind. None of his fellow Slytherins went out of their way to tell him much of anything. Actually J.B. wasn't so bad. At least he had let Harry copy down the semester's schedule. Still, it wasn't good when your biggest ally was busy adding ketchup to his oatmeal.

"So it turns out that Atalanta and the others heard what Big Bottom did to you guys and decided they wouldn't stand for it," Courtney said with a twisted grin on her long, horsey face. Samantha glared at the girl, clearly upset that Courtney had hijacked her story.

"Fine, whatever... you tell it, Crabbe," Courtney muttered mutinously, backing down beneath the heat of Samantha's angry stare.

"I will," Samantha said waspishly. "So anyways, when they had their Herbology class in the afternoon after we were already done for the day they all just stood there, refusing to take part in the lesson to protest what he made us do yesterday. I heard every one of them got detention, but none of them complained. Can you believe they would stand up for us first years like that?"

"I heard Atalanta Selwyn said that no professors had the right to pick on students just for being who they are," Scorpius said, shaking his head in admiration. It was curious how the other Slytherin first years were completely on their side now after laughing their heads off about it yesterday.

Harry stayed quiet, nibbling a bit of food only because Samantha forced him to. Quite honestly, he didn't really understand what was going on. Since when were the Slytherins champions of equality? That was utterly ridiculous coming from a house whose core beliefs held that some wizards were inherently better than others. Then again, it did seem wrong for other people to treat the Slytherins differently just because of where they were sorted. Did that mean that everyone was in the wrong? Boy was that a depressing thought. Plus, of all the things that the fifth year Slytherins could have done, silently refusing to participate in a class wasn't all that bad. In fact, Harry was rather touched that they would fight for him.

The morning consisted of three fairly uninteresting classes. First was Theory of Magic, which was nothing but a lot of writing with no real, actual magic being used. After that they had another Charms class with the Hufflepuffs in which they again took notes instead of using magic. It wasn't quite as bad as it had been the day before when he was covered with flubberworm slime, but it was every bit as boring. "Keep up those spirits," Professor Dimock said cheerfully as they shuffled out at the end of class. "We'll start practicing some of the simpler charms by the end of the week!"

The last class before lunch was Transfiguration. The Slytherins had this class with the Ravenclaws, just like Theory of Magic. Harry hadn't actually gotten a chance to look at the Ravenclaw first-years very closely during Theory, mostly because they had to do so much writing. They were a serious looking group, but they didn't seem to treat the Slytherins the way the Hufflepuffs had. Still, the Ravenclaws stayed on their side of the room and Harry and the other Slytherins stayed on their side.

"Everybody stand up, if you please," Professor Mason said as he strode into the room, closing the door behind him with a flick of his wand. "For this class you will have assigned seats."

The students exchanged surprised looks. What was this rubbish about assigned seats? They were eleven-years-old for goodness sakes, not a bunch of children! No one looked more upset than Clytemnestra, who looked as if she did not at all fancy the idea of being forced to sit beside new, strange people.

"Clytemnestra Lestrange... Miss Lestrange right up here, please," Professor Mason said, putting her right in the front left corner. "Then Mister Wiggins, next to her. Miss Vulcan after that, then Mister Vieri, followed by Mister Malfoy, and then... let's see here..."

Harry did as he was told, sitting right up in the front next to Clytemnestra. They were clearly being seated in such a way as to mix up the houses. Every Slytherin had to sit beside at least one Ravenclaw... everyone, that is, except Clytemnestra. She glanced at Harry briefly as he sat down next to her and he was surprised at how relieved she looked that he was the one sitting next to her. That didn't make any sense, what had he ever done to put her at ease? He'd never really gone out of his way for her. Well, maybe when Harper and Reese had tried to haze them, but that had just been because he was afraid that something bad might happen if they attacked her. He had never actually tried to be friends with the girl or anything like that. The more he thought about the look she had given him, the guiltier he felt. He didn't deserve it.

In the end Transfiguration was just as boring as the classes before it. Professor Mason explained that they would require quite a bit of note-taking and hours practice before they could hope to transfigure anything successful. "But," he said with a mysterious smile, "if you stick with it, there is nothing you cannot do." With a wave of his wand, the desk behind him turned into a small dragon, which flew around the classroom a few times before turning back into a desk with another wave of Professor Mason's wand. "Class dismissed."

"I hope someone lets us use magic soon," J.B. muttered after they were finished with lunch and hurrying off to their next class, "I swear my hand is about to fall off from writing so much."

"Fat chance that baldy lets us use magic in our first Data class," Kevin said with a sigh.

"Data class?" Harry asked, confused. What was he talking about?

"Not Data, Scaredy Cat, DatDA" Courtney said, spelling out the letters and shaking her head at his stupidity. "You can say Defense Against the Dark Arts every time if you want to, but people who aren't idiots just call it Data."

"Don't you ever shut up?" Harry snapped. Normally he was able to keep control of his temper, but Horsy had made one comment too many.

Before Courtney could respond, they came upon the Gryffindors gathered outside the classroom. Instantly the hallway became silent and each side glared at the other with dislike.

"Harry," Rose said, coming to stand beside him with a strained look on her face. "What happened yesterday? People are saying you're the reason those Slytherins disrespected Uncle Neville like that. Plus, yesterday someone cursed my cousin Dominique with a purple moustache that won't stop growing."

"I had nothing to do with it," Harry said, a little upset that she would even ask him that. He felt a little bit guilty that Amelia had apparently cursed Rose's cousin like that, but he's had nothing to do with that either. "Anyways, I told them not to cause trouble, but they didn't listen to me. Still, none of that would have happened if Professor Longbottom hadn't made Samantha, Clytemnestra and me sort through flubberworm slime for a whole class."

"Why would he make you do that?" Rose asked, surprised.

"I don't know," Harry said, which wasn't entirely true. He knew it had something to do with Clytemnestra, but he had no idea what. He could tell Rose about it later, but right now there were far too many people around. "Maybe he..."

"The bloke's just lying," said one of the Gryffindor boys that Harry had never even met. "What else do you expect, Rose." Harry turned to look at the boy in disbelief. What had Harry ever done to him?

"That's what happened, we were all there," J.B. said aggressively, taking a step towards the Gryffindors. Harry hadn't noticed until then that the Slytherins were hanging on one end of the hallway while the Gryffindors stood at the other end, with Rose and Harry standing in the middle.

"Then you're probably all liars," the Gryffindor boy said, folding his arms over his chest. "You are Slytherins, after all."

"You have something you want to say, you ugly little git?" Kevin Reese said, taking out his wand.

"You've got no right to be calling anyone ugly with that face of yours," said Annie Trout, drawing her own wand and standing beside the Gryffindor boy. Within seconds, all the Slytherins except Harry and Clytemnestra and many of the Gryffindors had drawn their wands.

"Hey... wait..." Rose and Harry said at almost the exact same time, trying to calm the others down. They stood there between the two sides, arms raised, hoping that somehow everyone would come to their senses.

"Just let it go, don't be stupid," Shandra Higgins said putting her hand on her fellow students' wand arms. "Peter, Annie, just let it go."

"There's no reason for this," Albus added, doing the same thing. "You'll just make trouble over nothing."

"Best do what Mummy and Lord Potty tells you, little Gryfflings," J.B. said with a scornful laugh, not lowering his wand an inch. Harry had never seen him like this. Out of all the Slytherins, he was by far the nicest. What was going on?

"Oh shove it, you bloody Slytherin," Rose snapped, glaring at J.B. viciously. There was something about the way she said it that crushed Harry's spirits. Slytherin... she had used that word like a curse. He knew in that moment that they couldn't really be friends, not while he was still, in the end, one of them. Rose might not have said anything to him, but if today was any indication it was only a matter of time before she realized there was something wrong with him too. Trying to keep the tears from forming in his eyes, Harry stumbled a few steps backwards.

"Well, I wish I could say this was unusual," the mild voice of Professor Clearwater said behind them. "But alas, Slytherins and Gryffindors never do seem to get along. Inside, all of you, before one of you does something I have to give out detention for."

Harry was the last one into the classroom, and as the class wore on his resentment and anger grew and grew. What did it matter that he was a Slytherin? Why should that hold him back at every turn? It just wasn't fair! He was no different than he was before, but people kept treating him as if he were a completely different person. Still, everyone was treating him differently, just like he'd feared they would. Even Rose apparently had resentment against Slytherins that she had been hiding away. Would even Cassy start looking at him with that look of dislike on her face before long? He was so frustrated that he didn't take notes at all during class.

"Can I have a volunteer for a practical demonstration?" Professor Clearwater asked quietly, and Harry, who had hardly listened to a word up until that point, was the first to raise his hand. He wanted to use some damn magic.

"Mr. Wiggins, join me please." Professor Clearwater said. "Now, most counter-curses, jinxes and hexes require far more magic power than any first year possesses. One notable exception is the Disarming spell. Does anyone know why?"

A few Gryffindors raised their hands, Rose not among them. Harry thought she looked a bit troubled. Good.

"Mr. Corlin," Professor Clearwater said, indicating a boy with short brown hair.

"Uh, because it is so simple?" The boy said, not sounding very sure. Several of the Slytherins smirked at what they considered to be quite a stupid answer.

"In a way, yes," Professor Clearwater said. "Expelliarmus is a charm, and a fairly simple one at that. Does anyone know what makes a charm distinct from a different type of spell? Ms. Stubbs."

"A charm is a spell that contains specific instructions that the spell will fulfil. For example, a levitation charm will cause an object to levitate. As such, they are extremely powerful but also very limited, for they cannot be modified to accomplish any goal other than the one they naturally fulfil." Courtney said, sounding far smarter than she ever had before. Was that what they had been talking about in Theory of Magic class?

"Yes, very good, Ms. Stubbs… five points to Slytherin. Charms typically require very precise word usage and wand movements, but less magical energy that others spells because of the very limited nature of their function. Charms are designed to make certain tasks easier, and their usefulness comes from the fact they conserve the caster's energy. The disarming spell, however, is a bit of a hybrid, which is what makes it so useful for our class. It was designed as a standard charm, but ended up functioning more along the lines of a jinx or hex, subsets of charms magic that operate very differently from standard charms. These spells are less tailored toward a specific function, but rather are versatile and function differently depending on how much power the cast uses in that particular spell. Do you understand Mr. Wiggins?"

"Uh, yeah," Harry said, his mind busy processing this information. "It's a bit like the way that the water charm Auguamenti works," he continued, thinking back to the spell that Atalanta had used. "What you're saying, Sir, is that that particular charm could never be used to create a flood of water. No matter how much power you use, it will only create a stream of water because that is the function of the charm.

"That, Mr. Wiggins, is a very good answer. Ten points to Slytherin." Harry felt absolutely thrilled. He hadn't earned any points for Slytherin up to this point. The other Slytherins looked pleased; the Gryffindors sulky. "Just for your information," continued Professor Clearwater, "the charm to cause a flood is called Torrentia. However, it is such a complex charm that there are only a handful of people alive today skilled enough to cast it. But to get back to the point at hand, the reason it is worth practicing the Expelliarmus charm is because it is simple enough that even a first-year student can learn how to use it in its weakest form while at the same time complex enough that it can be a very versatile and useful spell if done correctly. Mr. Wiggins, would you care to have a go? I won't make any attempt to shield myself."

Harry drew his wand, eliciting the standard reaction from the Gryffindors who had never seen it before. He hadn't cast a single spell since that first night when had somehow cast spells without even knowing quite what he was doing. He had waited days for this opportunity... but now that it was here he was hesitant. What would happen if he wasn't able to control his power properly? Should he try and hold back a little?

"Do you remember the incantation?" Professor Clearwater asked softly.

"Y-yes Professor," Harry said, nervous now that everyone's eyes were on him. He needed to make up his mind quickly.

"Loser," coughed one of the Gryffindors, his fake cough far from subtle. Harry recognized him as the boy who had called Harry a liar before. He still didn't know the boy's name... and he didn't really care. Harry mind was made up, and he was absolutely furious. He was going to show them just what he could. He would make damn sure not one of them forgot it. Harry pointed his wand at Professor Mason and, as loudly was he could, said, "EXPELLIARMUS!"

He had intended to use as much power as possible, but it was quickly clear that probably hadn't been such a good idea. Every wand in the entire classroom came flying towards him, whizzing through the air before arranging themselves around his feet like rays of the sun. A stunned silence descended over the classroom. Everyone was looking at him as if they couldn't believe that had just happened. Harry himself was a little surprised, but given everything else that had happened he was far less surprised than everyone else.

Professor Clearwater was the first to recover, moving to stand beside Harry and silently stooping to pick up his wand. Harry felt as though he should say something like, _sorry I made everyone's wands fly around_, but the words died in his throat. The professor said nothing, instead he strode to the window, raised his wand, and cast a spell that Harry couldn't quite hear. Something made of silver light shot out of the end of the Professor's wand and flew across the grounds and out of sight. Then Clearwater scribbled a quick note and handed it to Harry.

"Take this to the Headmistress, Mr. Wiggins," Professor Clearwater said, his expression unreadable. "You remember where the headmistress's study is, don't you?"

"Yes," Harry said in a small voice. Boy, he had really done it now.

"Well then, off you go. Everyone else, you can come up here and retrieve your wands."

As Harry left, he saw Rose give him a look of stunned disbelief. In fact, Harry thought that she actually looked rather afraid. It looked like he had been right after all, there was no way they could go back to being friends now.

He was glad no one went with him the Headmistress's study. Harry hated it when people saw him cry.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 Ghosts and Chocolate

It was not far from Harry's classroom to the headmistress's study, but Harry took his time getting there. He didn't want Professor Sprout or anyone else to know that he had been crying, and so he walked around aimlessly, waiting for the tears to dry. After all, it was a silly thing to cry over. He had known deep down that this would happen the moment the Sorting Hat made its choice, he had just been denying it up until now. Slytherins were the bad guys—the villains in all the stories he'd been told as a kid. There was no way that Rose, Albus, or anyone else would want to be friends with someone like that. He had been fooling himself when he thought that they wouldn't mind. They'd ended up on different sides, and nothing could change that.

Looking around he saw that he had taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up further away from the Gargoyle statue than he ought to be. Harry sighed in frustration and shook his head to clear it. He was also feeling pretty dizzy... was that from thinking so hard? Whatever the case may be, it was stupid to get into more trouble by being late to see the headmistress. Massaging his aching head, Harry began retracing his steps. It was good that he had an innate sense of direction and very rarely got lost, for it allowed him to navigate the confusing passages of the castle better than almost any other first year. As he retraced his steps, his brain kept working feverishly, Harry didn't know what the headmistress was going to do with him, but it probably wasn't going to be good. She might even decide to kick...

Harry stopped dead, dread pulsing through him. He hadn't actually considered the very real possibility that he might expelled. There was something wrong with him; he was able to do all sorts of things that no one was supposed to be able to do. What if they decided that he was too dangerous to be around the other students? He hadn't hurt anyone, but if he wasn't careful he certainly could. What if he cast a levitation charm or something and instead of floating whatever he was supposed to be floating he sent all his fellow classmates flying into the air? Maybe it would just be safer for everyone if he did get expelled.

"Wait, my lady, do not leave me like this!" Someone said abruptly a little ways behind Harry, who turned and looked around in shock. There hadn't been anyone around him, so who was speaking? Harry shook his head to clear it again and tried to identify the source of the voice. The headache wasn't helping. Without warning the ghostly figure of a woman burst out of the wall five feet away from Harry. She was very pretty, but that was rather hard to appreciate given the angry, haughty look she had on her face as she floated past him without a word and melted into the far wall. She was followed moments later by another ghost who materialized out of the same wall that she had left behind.

"Helena!" The ghost called mournfully. "Wait for—" He stopped suddenly, noticing Harry standing there with a stunned expression on his face. "Oh-I... Good day, young man. Should you not be in class?"

"Uh, I was sent... I'm supposed to go to the headmistress's study," Harry said, still shocked. He had never actually talked to a ghost before, much less interrupted one in the middle of... whatever it was this poor fellow was trying to do.

"And you're lost I expect," the ghost guessed, glancing mournfully at the wall where the lady ghost had disappeared.

"No, actually I..."

"Fear not, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, ghost of the Gryffindor House, will guide you on your way," Sir Nicholas said, bobbing his head kindly. That was when Harry noticed something was wrong. Sir Nicholas's head was only attached to his neck by the least possible amount of skin, causing his head to wobble ominously. Harry wasn't sure if it was disgusting or hilarious. Honestly, it was probably a little of both.

"The headmistress's study is this way," Sir Nicholas pronounced with authority, drifting forward in a dignified sort of way. It almost looked to Harry as if he were showing off for someone, probably that Lady Ghost. Privately, Harry thought that poor Sir Nicholas was wasting his time with her.

"Uh, thank you, Sir Nicholas," Harry said, following after the ghost.

"You're a nice young man," the ghost said approvingly. "Children today have no manners. Hardly anyone calls me Sir Nicholas anymore."

"What do they call you?" Harry asked curious. He hardly knew anything about the Hogwarts Ghosts because he had never let Cassy tell him too many stories about them, even though she tried. They frightened him, but this one actually wasn't so bad up close.

"Well, never mind that," Sir Nicholas said, displeased with where the conversation was headed. "You can just call me Sir Nicholas, if you would. What is your name, young man?"

"Harry Wiggins," Harry replied politely, wishing they would move a bit faster. He had already wasted some time wandering around and crying, and didn't want to be any later than he had to be. He was also starting to feel very tired, but perhaps that was just from talking to Sir Nicholas.

"Wiggins... You're not by chance descended for Earl Archibald Wiggins of Northumbria who hunted the last manticore in England and served the most delicious Dragon Steaks?" Sir Nicholas asked with a hungry, longing look in his eyes.

"I don't think so sir, my father is a muggle... and from America for that matter." Harry said dully. That Earl Wiggins seemed like an interesting person to be descended from.

"Hmm, America," Sir Nicholas said. "I should very much have liked to see that land. You know that muggles only discovered it the year that I died? We wizards, of course, had known that it was there the whole time. After all, it is rather hard to miss two entire continents like that. But then, that's muggles for you." Sir Nicholas wobbled his head in bemusement.

"Well why didn't you tell them?" Harry asked, not understanding. There was nothing wrong with being a muggle like his dad.

"They would never have believed me," Sir Nicholas said with a head-tottering shrug, "and there would not have been much point trying to enlighten them. Muggles are usually happier not knowing."

Harry felt himself growing upset again, but he said nothing. This man was the ghost of Gryffindor House, the champions of the muggles. Why was he acting as if they were some kind of adorable pet instead of real people?

"How do you like Hogwarts so far, young Harry?" Sir Nicholas asked as the silence stretched on. "I must say," he continued before Harry had a chance to respond, "that there are quite a number of Harrys around these days. That is only to be expected, of course, considering everything that young Harry Potter accomplished. You know, I'm somewhat of an expert on all things Potter. And you might say I'm his official consult on all things ghostly." Sir Nicholas sounded as if he were quite used to bragging this way. Harry didn't really care much... his headache was quickly growing worse. The sooner he got away from this chatty ghost, the better.

"I'm actually on good terms with all the heroes of the Battle of Hogwarts," Sir Nicholas continued, undeterred by Harry's lack of interest. "Miss Hermione always says hello to me whenever she visits the school, and Master Ronald gave me the sage advice to follow my heart, wherever it may lead." Sir Nicholas gazed wistfully at the wall as if the Lady Ghost were lurking there, just out of sight. Harry figured she was probably on the far side of the castle by now. He also didn't think that Mr. Weasley's advice on this matter was very good. Sir Nicholas would definitely be better off if his heart led him somewhere else.

"Well, here you are," Sir Nicholas said, indicating the familiar gargoyle that stood before the headmistress's study. "Fare you well, young Harry. By the way, I failed to ask you which house you had been sorted into."

"Slytherin," Harry said dully, waiting for Sir Nicholas to react the same way everyone else did.

"Well. I must say, they are very fortunate to have gotten a student like you. They have been rather down on their luck in recent years. Why, only twenty years ago the Slytherins were a shoe-in to win the House Cup seemingly every year. Maybe you can help turn them around, young Harry."

"Y-you don't think it's a bad thing?"

"My dear boy, there are far more important things in this world than where one is sorted," Sir Nicholas said with a determined wobble. "Houses matter very little to us ghosts. For instance, the Bloody Baron and I are on, er, very good terms. He's been most understand regarding my affections for the Grey Lady. He had feelings for her long ago when they were both alive." Sir Nicholas sounded distinctly nervous now.

"You haven't told him, have you," Harry guessed.

"Not expressly, no," Sir Nicholas said, glancing around fearfully. "But as I said we have a very good understanding. I would, though, ask that you not mention it to him, if you please."

"Sure thing," Harry said, figuring that would be easy enough. He would never in a million years go near the Bloody Baron of his own free will.

"You don't think it's foolish do you... an old soul striving to find love after all these years?" Sir Nicholas asked, gaze distant.

"Er," Harry said, unsure of what would possibly be a reasonable answer to that question. Harry wasn't very experience in such matters, and he figured he knew as much about love as a teaspoon. "Good for you, I guess."

"You are too kind," Sir Nicholas said, a ghostly tear forming in his eye. "Well, I must be off to win my sweet lady's affection. Good luck to you, Harry, and I hope to see you around." With one last head-bobbling bow, Sir Nicholas departed through the nearest wall.

"Fanged Geranium," Harry said to the Gargoyle, rubbing his forehead. For some reason he didn't quite understand his headache got even worse after the talkative ghost had disappeared. Still, talking to Sir Nicholas had helped calm him down. He highly doubted he would be expelled for casting a really strong spell, but he might be reprimanded for not telling them about his power earlier. Professor Mason had known, did that mean that the professor would get in trouble now? Harry stumbled onto the moving staircase, missing his footing at first. _Oops_, Harry thought to himself sleepily,_ missed my step_._ Why… why is everything so fuzzy all of a sudden?_

Harry stood in front of the door for a good ten seconds before remembering to knock. He was so tired, he just wanted to lie down. Hopefully the headmistress wouldn't take too long and he would be able to get some sleep. Why was he here, again?

He knocked lightly and the door opened all on its own. _Magic is so cool,_ Harry thought sluggishly, shuffling inside with a yawn.

"I have a note for you, h-headmistress," Harry said sleepily as he approached the headmistress's desk. She was busy doing something to some plant or other, but smiled kindly at him when he approached. She was such a nice lady.

"Well now," Professor Sprout said as she finished reading his note, "So it seems that she was right."

"W-what?" Harry said, stopping mid-word to yawn. It didn't occur to him at the time that he wasn't being very polite.

"Oh dear, magic drain," Professor Sprout said, coming quickly to stand by his side. "You should sit down, Mr. Wiggins."

Harry went to sit down, but he didn't quite manage it. He lost consciousness right then and there in the Headmistress's study.

"I think he's waking up," a woman said nearby, but it was not a voice that he recognized. He was lying down somewhere. What had just happened? _Oh no,_ he thought, eyes flying open, _I fainted in front of the headmistress_.

"Shhh, it's alright," Hermione Weasley said from a nearby chair. "Here, have a piece of chocolate."

"T-thank you," Harry said, sitting up and accepting the large piece of chocolate that Hermione handed him. He was sitting in the hospital wing, and there was no one around except for Hermione, a young woman that Harry didn't know, and the school healer who was talking to a girl on the other side of the room who had her back to him. "What happened to me? Is the headmistress angry?"

Hermione laughed, prompting Harry to give her a hurt look. "Oh, I'm sorry Harry," Hermione said, giving him an amused smile, "but Professor Sprout would never be upset over something like that. Although she was a bit annoyed with Alyzeus for sending you to her study alone. He should have known that it was possible that you might be suffering from magic drain, but he does forget the little things sometimes."

"A pretty common trend among Aurors," the other woman said cheerfully, not looking up. Harry realized that she was busy writing. "Or maybe it's just men."

"You knew what you were getting into," Hermione said, smiling and offering Harry some more chocolate. He wasn't sure he could eat it, but he wasn't foolish enough to say no to her.

"Very true," The woman said, looking up at Harry. He saw that she was probably a bit older than he had thought she was. She just gave off an air of youthful excitement, and her brown eyes twinkled warmly. Her hair a distinctive shade of red, and Harry knew without a doubt who she was before she even introduced herself. This was Ginny Potter, James and Albus's mother and Harry Potter's wife.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked in wonder, glancing back and forth between Hermione and Mrs. Potter.

"When you cast an abnormal disarming spell, Professor Clearwater sent word to me immediately," Hermione said. "He was the one who recruited me to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, back when he was still an Auror. You do remember, don't you, that the Ministry put me in charge of your case?"

"Y-yes," Harry said quietly, feeling guilty. It had slipped his mind that he ought to have told her everything that was going on. He could very well be in trouble with the Ministry now.

"Don't look so guilty, Harry. Truth be told, I was waiting for something like this to happen. It proves that my theory is correct," Hermione said, her voice flushed with excitement. She clearly loved being right.

"Everyone already knew your theory was correct," Mrs. Potter said, going back to writing by hand. "There isn't a witch or wizard alive who's smarter than you."

"Oh nonsense," Hermione said, looking embarrassed and pleased at the same time. "More chocolate, Harry?"

"No, thanks," Harry said very confused. Usually adults tried to get him to eat fewer sweets, not more.

"Chocolate is an excellent remedy for recovering from strain placed upon the soul," Hermione said, sensing his confusion. "When a wizard uses too much of their magic energy at once, they become physically and spiritually exhausted. That phenomenon is more common known as magic drain. Extreme examples can cause permanent damage to your body... or even your soul."

"Not to worry," Hermione continued, seeing the scared expression on his face, "You didn't reach anywhere near that level of power. You had a very mild form of magic drain, which is why it didn't manifest itself immediately."

"How long was I out for? And is... is this sort of thing common? I've never heard of it." Harry said, deciding to accept another slab of chocolate. He didn't want anything going wrong with his soul.

"You were only unconscious for maybe a few minutes. We were already on our way here when you fainted. And no, given the way that magic is taught at Hogwarts, it is unusual for a student to experience symptoms of magic drain," Hermione said. "You should be more careful in the future, though, since you are far more susceptible to it than an average student."

"Hermione," Mrs. Potter said, looking up from her writing again, "Harry probably wants to know what's going on."

"Oh, right," Hermione said, as if she had forgotten that he didn't know everything she did. "I should explain. Harry, your unusual level of power is most likely the result of the fact that you do not have the Trace on you."

"What?" Harry said, stunned. "But why would that matter? I thought the Trace was just used to keep track of young wizards and make sure they didn't use magic outside of school."

"Yes, that is what everyone thought, but it turns out that the Trace does far more than that," Hermione explained excitedly. "It is a very old spell, and quite honestly there is so much about it that we don't know. There are no surviving records of when it was cast or exactly how it works. Most people assumed that its function was straightforward, but I'm beginning to believe that that isn't the case. I think that the Trace actually fundamentally changes who we are as wizards."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked in a hushed voice.

"We always assumed that a wizard's power developed gradually over time, increasing slowly from the time you are born to the time you reach the age of adulthood at seventeen," Hermione said. She really seemed to be in her element when she was explaining things to people. "There was really no point in debating otherwise, because you could just observe a young wizard and see that their power grew over time. I'm convinced, however, that that's not really the case at all. Instead, I believe a wizard is born with the ability to access their full store of magical power, but the Trace limits them until they reach adulthood. The Trace gradually weakens, allowing them to use a greater percentage of their magical power as they grow older. That way, it appears as though a wizard is gaining more power as they grow up, while in fact they are gaining more control over power that they had inside them all along. The proof of that theory, Harry, is you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You should not be able to control as much power as you do at such a young age, for it goes against the laws of magic as we understand them. It seems that you have access to as much power as any adult wizard, something that ought to be impossible. The only explanation that makes sense is that your lack of the Trace gives you access to all your power, meaning that it limits the power in everyone else."

"But why?" Harry asked, looking back and forth between Hermione and Mrs. Potter, who had stopped writing to watch him. "Why would anyone create the Trace to limit everyone like that?"

"Honestly I don't know," Hermione said slowly, "but if I had to guess I would say it was for safety. If magic really does manifest fully in children, it would make them potential dangers to themselves and everyone around them. There is nothing more dangerous than out of control magic. Even with limited magical power, magical accidents at Hogwarts can be deadly. Our wizard ancestors might have come up with the Trace as a way to try and limit their children's power until they learned control."

"It's also possible that Hermione's theory is wrong and that you are currently using a small portion of your total power," Mrs. Potter interjected, studying him with her large brown eyes. "But if that is the case, then you are probably the most powerful wizard who has ever lived. Not even Dumbledore could have cast an empowered disarming spell on his second day of school."

"Mrs. Potter," Harry said, nervously facing her.

"Please call me Ginny," she replied self-consciously. "Mrs. Potter makes me sound like an old lady."

"Er, Ginny, sorry," Harry said, "You don't think that's true, do you?" He didn't want to be the most powerful wizard who had ever lived. He was just Harry.

"No," Ginny said slowly, considering her words. "Years of experience have taught me that Hermione is nearly always right. Still, it is a possibility."

"A small one," Hermione conceded reluctantly. "It will be impossible to know for certain until we spend more time observing you. You, Harry, might completely change the way we understand magic. We will have to meet regularly to note your progress. Twice a month we are going to need to meet with you and talk about how your magical power is progressing. The headmistress has already given her permission, although she is not thrilled with the Ministry meddling with one of her students. It helps a bit that it is me. That's alright with you, isn't it Harry?"

"Uh, sure," Harry said uncertainly. It didn't really matter do him. He glanced at Ginny, trying to figure out what exactly she was doing here. She hadn't answered his question earlier.

"Oh, I'm just here to take notes," Ginny said brightly, as if reading his mind. "Hermione can't be expected to do this all alone, she doesn't have the time to both ask you questions and take notes. I am a reporter, after all, and I dare say I'm better than some red-faced intern. Mostly I write about Quidditch, but that's a bit of a depressing subject these days. I fully expect England to lose to Bhutan later this week."

"A reporter..." Harry said uneasily. Was he going to be in some sort of story in the Daily Prophet?

"She's just here to assist me," Hermione said, giving Ginny a rather exasperated look, "Although I should say she rather invited herself."

"I was bored," Ginny said unapologetically. "Now that both Albus and James are out of the house I don't have much occupy my time. Lily is a quiet little angel compared to those two. Sometimes she's so well behaved that I'm worried about what she might be hiding. After all, she is related to some of the biggest troublemakers this word has ever seen." Ginny grinned widely.

"Like I said before we came here, I'm sure you're imagining it," Hermione said with a shake of her head "Lily is just a good, sweet, nine-year-old girl, which is hardly a bad thing."

"Maybe," Ginny said laughing, "But I wouldn't be so sure. Maybe you're right though. It's the oldest that I ought to be worrying about. Have you met my James, by chance, Harry?"

"Er, yeah," Harry said uncomfortably. He didn't really want to talk about the Potter and Weasley kids right now.

"He hasn't been his usual rude self, has he?" Ginny asked, eyes stormy. "I swear that boy has far too much of my brothers in him."

"No, he's been really nice," Harry lied, not quite sure why he was doing it. He just didn't want Ginny to look upset. He wasn't quite sure that lying to her was the right thing to do, though.

"And how's Rosie doing?" Hermione asked, sounding more concerned than he expected. "She hasn't written home at all." Harry wasn't sure what he could possibly bring himself to say about Rose, so he kept silent. It's not like they were actually friends... not really.

"Hermione, it's been less than a week," Ginny said, smirking in amusement.

"I know that," snapped Hermione irritably, as if she didn't appreciate Ginny's amusement. Thankfully, Ginny's comment seemed to have made Hermione forget her original question and so Harry didn't have to answer. "But let's get back to the task at hand. Ginny is here helping me because she has nothing else to do."

"Hey," protested Ginny, "I'm trying to write more for the Prophet, but my editor keeps saying that no one wants to read serious stories written by a former Quidditch player. She's a bit of an old cow, really." She scribbled angrily on her paper with her quill, making Harry feel nervous. Not for himself, of course, but for that poor editor. He was very glad that he wasn't the one who had made Ginny Potter mad.

"So anyways," Ginny continued, back to being cheerful as ever, "I'm here to help out however I can. Don't say you couldn't use the help, Hermione."

Hermione said nothing, but Harry could tell she was struggling against a desire to say those exact words. "What about that special report you were doing, Ginny?" Hermione said after a lull.

"It's almost done," Ginny said with a sigh, "but most likely they won't even publish it. Wizards just don't want to read about stuff like that, even if it is happening right in their backyard."

"What is it about?" Harry asked curiously.

"It's about the recent terrorist attacks in England carried out by a radical anarchist group. There have been three separate bombings in the past few months. The last one was only this morning," Ginny said, looking grim.

"Terrorist attacks?" Harry said in shock. "I haven't heard anything about that!"

"I'm not surprised; it's easily to get isolated from what's going on in the outside word here at Hogwarts. But it's not your fault. Wizards aren't talking about it in general because no wizards have been hurt or killed. They figure that it's just a muggle problem, like a war or something like that. It's amazing how little attention we pay to the people dying around us," Ginny said, shaking her head fiercely like an angry wild animal.

"Ginny, Harry's a little young for this conversation," Hermione said sternly.

"No I'm not!" Harry protested fiercely. He was eleven years old, not some child!

"No, Hermione is right," Ginny said, shaking her head. "You should be focusing on your studies, not worrying about the state of the world. That is what the adults are for!" She added with a smile.

"Have you finished badgering the young man yet?" The school healer said sternly, coming over to glare at Ginny and Hermione.

"Yes, we are. Sorry, Hannah," Hermione said, looking guilty. The Healer had long blonde hair and a kindly air about her, but was glaring ferociously at the two women.

"Well then off with you, young Harry needs to rest. Magic drain can be a nasty business." Her glower turned to a friendly smile and she added in a lower voice, "Oh, and say hello to your niece before you leave. She's having a rough go of it because of some Slytherin teasing."

"Slytherins," Ginny muttered angrily, "Dominique is such a gentle soul. Well, I'll see you in about two weeks, Harry. I'd be happy to stay and chat..."

"Oh you would, would you?" The healer said, hands on her hips.

"But my daughter Lily said this morning that she wasn't feeling well and I want to check on her," continued Ginny, winking at the healer. "Plus Madame Abbott might skin me alive if I don't let you rest."

Giving Harry a friendly pat on his arm, Ginny got up and went to talk with the blonde girl on the other side of the hospital wing, who still had half a purple moustache on her face. She looked absolutely miserable. Suddenly he didn't find what Amelia Runcorn had done to her funny at all... not that he ever had, really.

"How's Neville doing?" Hermione asked Madame Abbott quietly as she also got up to leave. They were talking quietly, but Harry could still hear them well enough. He closed his eyes and pretended to take a nap so that they wouldn't think he was eavesdropping on them... even though he most certainly was.

"It's harder than he thought it would be. He says that it's like seeing a younger version of her mother."

"Yeah, that's what I thought myself," Hermione said with a sigh. "It's creepy, but hardly the poor girl's fault. She hasn't done anything, has she?"

"No," Madame Abbott said, "but a number of Slytherins have been causing trouble, all in the name of protecting their fellow student. As if Slytherins need a reason to make trouble. My husband is getting the worst of it for some reason. Poor Neville, you know how things like that upset him."

"I'm sure he did nothing wrong," Hermione said with a sigh. "Even so, it's not good for everyone to always expect the worst of the Slytherins. All it does is make them feel more and more isolated."

"They're always the ones who start it," Madame Abbott said stubbornly. "I wonder how much longer the Headmistress and the others will be able to put up with them if they keep making trouble year after year."

"It wouldn't be Hogwarts without the Slytherins. Salazar Slytherin is still one of the founders," Hermione said. "Plus, they certainly aren't all bad. Harry is a perfect example of that."

"That little boy is a Slytherin? I had no idea. It doesn't seem right."

"I was a bit surprised when he was sorted myself," conceded Hermione, "but the Sorting Hat always has its reasons. It certainly knew what it was doing when it sorted me in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw."

"I suppose so," Madame Abbott said reluctantly. "And it's not so bad that our biggest problem these days is a few rowdy school students."

"No," Hermione said, her voice strained. "That's not such a bad thing at all." After giving the healer a quick hug, she and Ginny left the hospital wing, leaving Harry to rest. He spent quite a long time fighting his desire to nap and thinking over everything they had told him. There was, after all, quite a bit to process. Was Hermione really right about him... was he really special? He sure didn't feel special, mostly just tired. Maybe everyone was just making a giant mistake. Then again, Harry thought as he fell into a doze, it would be rather exciting to be special and save the world and all that. It almost too bad that Harry Potter fixed all the problems when he beat Voldemort. Now there's nothing left for the rest of us to do!

With that rather silly thought in his head, young Harry Wiggins fell asleep.


	14. Chapter 13 and a half

Chapter 13.5 A Glimpse of Things to Come

_The sky was on fire._

_Sometimes Daddy liked to say that when the sun was setting and the sky turned all red and orange. He would point up at the sky and say, "Look, honey, the sky is on fire," but it never was. Daddy was just saying it to make her laugh. She always did laugh, of course, that was part of the game. This was different though; this time the sky really was on fire. Above her were swirling clouds of burning gas, raining down fiery rain on the dead, ruined world around her. If this were real, the heat would be so intense that she couldn't have stood where she was standing and live. One breath of this stuff would probably burn her right up... so it was a good thing that this wasn't real. At least not yet._

_Lily Potter rose to her feet and looked around carefully, wondering where she should go. This wasn't the first strange dream she'd had, but this one was definitely the scariest. Did this mean that this was going to happen to... where was she exactly? Was this her home? It was impossible to tell. There was nothing around her but burnt rubble and ash. Nothing made any sense._

_Lily spent a few seconds half-heartedly trying to convince herself that this was just a regular dream, the kind that anyone might have, but deep down she just knew that wasn't true. This was one of those dreams, the kind that showed things that hadn't happened yet. It had been five years now since that first one. It almost made her cry just thinking about it... and this dream was even worse. She knew from those other times that the things she dreamed would come true, but this couldn't possibly happen, could it? What could possibly have the power to set the sky on fire?_

_Lily needed answers, and there didn't seem to be any around here. Quick as she could, she made her way down from the ruins around her and went in search of anything that would help her make sense of this dream. Quite honestly, she had no idea what that something would be. Within seconds her bare feet were covered with ash. She was always barefoot in these dreams... so it was a good thing she couldn't feel the heat of the burning ground around her. She shuddered just thinking about it, and didn't want to go on. I need to be brave, thought Lily, I need to figure out why this is happening. That's what Daddy and Mum would do._

_She moved slowly through the plain of ash, watching the burning sky with a kind of terrified fascination. There were giant burning gas clouds high above her, blazing and swirling with red, orange and yellow hues. You could almost call it pretty, if not for the fact that all life around her had been burned away. She walked for minutes, or maybe longer, but saw no signs of any living thing. The world around her was completely dead and silent, and, if there had once been people here… well… they were now gone. There weren't even any bodies, just ash, soot and dust. Lily managed not to cry as she walked on and on, but only because she was too young to truly understand the enormity of what she was seeing._

_Eventually Lily reached the edge of a large crater. Was this the place the cause of all of this? Had something crashed into the earth like in one of those muggle movies and blowed everything up? If that was the case, there wasn't a whole lot she could do about it. No, it had to be something else... something she could fix. All the other dreams had been that way, so this one had to be too. There'd be no point in showing her things she couldn't fix._

_"So you have come," came a voice from below her, and Lily was so surprised that she fell over. Out of the edge of the crater below her slithered a huge snake, bigger than any she had ever seen. It didn't seem entirely real, but rather looked like it was a kind of ghost. Not that Lily had ever seen a ghost, of course, but James had told her stories. Plus, it wasn't hard to figure out what a ghost might look like, they were transparent and white and so on. Lily wasn't stupid._

_"Hello," Lily said nervously, very aware that she was doing the thing that James had told her not to do. "Don't Lil," he always said, "don't talk to them. People aren't supposed to be able to talk to snakes. You'll get in trouble." Well, she certainly wasn't going to get into any trouble here... and this snake was the only thing around. Still, she felt guilty. Lily never liked to do things that James had told her not to do. He was a good big brother._

_"Greetings, Dreamwalker," the big snaky-ghost thing said, "it was not a simple thing to bring you here."_

_"I'm sorry," Lily said automatically, feeling guilty. She always seemed to make trouble for other people, even imaginary snake ghosts._

_"You needn't apologize, hatchling," the snake said in an amused sort of way. "It was necessary. As you can see, this world is about to be in a lot of trouble."_

_"What happened here?" Lily asked trying to not sound as scared as she was. So she had been right, this was actually going to happen in the real world._

_"Your kind has once again made something which should never have been made, and now seems to have fallen into... the wrong hands as you would say," the snake said, flicking out his ghostly tongue._

_"What do you mean?" Lily asked, not understanding._

_"Do not concern yourself with such things, Dreamwalker, for it is not your battle to wage. You are barely more than a new-born. You need only bear witness for those who will stand against this fire."_

_Lily didn't like being told that she was too young... she was nine years old after all, but the snake probably had a good point. She couldn't possibly hope to prevent... this._

_"What should I do?" Asked Lily, her voice small._

_"Watch, and remember," the snake said simply, slithering down into the crater and leaving her behind. Lily scrambled down after it, wishing it would be a little nicer to her. Snake or no, it was rude to just walk away from someone like that. It was something her stupid cousin Hugo might do. He was always doing rude things like that._

_They made their way across the bottom of the crater, which ended up being much, much bigger than she'd thought it would be. What sort of thing could have made a crater this huge? Lily wanted to ask the snake, but he was too far ahead of her for her to talk to. Not only that, but he was moving much faster than her too. He sure was a rude snake-ghost._

_When it came into view, Lily stopped dead, refusing to believe what she was seeing. She might have screamed... actually, yeah, she'd screamed, although she didn't realize it at the time. She was too shocked and scared to notice such things. Sitting on the far side of the crater that she now knew wasn't a crater was the burnt, crumbling ruin of Hogwarts Castle, barely able to keep itself from crumbling into the dried-up lake that the snake was leading her through. She had been to the castle before with Daddy, and she had seen so many pictures of the place that she knew the view from the lake well. Her brothers... what had happened to her brothers and cousins?_

_She didn't want to cry, she really didn't, but the enormity of what she was seeing was finally too much for her to bear. Some people weren't so bad when they cried, like how some of the other girls she knew could still look cute while doing it. But Lily wasn't one of those girls. When she cried, she balled her eyes out and tears and snot went everywhere. It was really embarrassing, but she couldn't help it. Sometimes you just need to cry._

_"Hush hatchling," the snake said, coming back to soothe her… eventually. "Now you understand what is at stake. You must return, and bear witness to the fire that is coming for us all."_

_"But no one is going to believe me," Lily said, hiccupping pitifully. How could she possibly explain what she was seeing to anyone?_

_"This is not the first time you have walked in a dream, is it?" the snake asked, sounding as if he already knew the answer._

_"N-no, no it's not." Lily said, drying her eyes. That was a good point, actually. She had been able to make a difference before. "Still, my brother James was the one who helped me last time. He always believed whatever I said."_

_"And does he still?" The snake asked, fixing his large snaky eyes on her._

_"Yes, yes he does," Lily said, smiling for the first time. James would know what to do. Her big brother would believe her. He was always on her side._

_"Then he at least must be told what is coming. The world must be warned, no matter what."_

_"I don't think anyone else will believe me," Lily said in a sulky voice. She could just imagine trying to get Daddy to believe her. That is, if he didn't kill her after she told him all the secrets she had been hiding from him and Mum. No, they would just end up thinking she was crazy._

_"You must do what you think is best," the snake said, inclining his head._

_Lily frowned at the snake, not understanding something. "Hey, wouldn't it be make more sense for you to just tell me everything that is going on and how to prevent it?"_

_"Unfortunately I cannot," the snake said, shaking its transparent, scaly head. Typical._

_"And why is that?" Lily asked, putting her little hands on her little hips and glaring at the snake. He was being deliberately unhelpful... she could tell. Boys were always the same._

_"What do you know of the nature of prophecy?"_

_"Uh," Lily said, suddenly too confused to properly maintain her glare, "I don't know..."_

_"Prophecies refer to specific paths that one might take down the road to the future," the ghost snake said patiently. "If one has the ability, one can look down specific paths and see where they lead. Human seers are among the least reliable, often barely able to make sense of what they see and repeating their visions in cryptic messages that are of very little use to anyone. That is not the way of the snakes."_

_"Snakes... snakes can see the future?" Lily asked in a little voice, completely stunned. Was he being serious?_

_"On occasion," the snake said mysteriously. "As it so happens, I looked down the path of the future in which I tell you everything and you tell the world what was coming. This is that future, where all things end in fire."_

_"What?" Lily shouted, close to tears again. "Then what am I supposed to do?"_

_"I have no idea, for you must choose your own path. Only then is there any hope of success."_

_Oh no, thought Lily, mind spinning. Not good._

_"Do not lose hope, for all futures do not lead to this point, although I do not have the skill to identify the ones that do not. For that, I am sorry. But even so, you know as well as I do that unwanted futures can be prevented." That was certainly true, Lily thought, trying to be positive, she had done that much before._

_"But I don't know what to do," Lily said miserably. The snake was asking rather a lot of her. Saving the world was too much pressure to be putting on a nine-year-old. Wasn't there someone else who could handle this sort of thing?_

_"Nor do I," the snake said, which Lily found hardly comforting. "But you are the only witch ever born who has had the power to both walk in dreams and speak the tongue of snakes. Without you, all hope of saving the school and the world would be lost."_

_"The school?" Lily asked, confused. "Do you mean Hogwarts? So this is all going to start at Hogwarts…um, isn't it?"_

_"Thsss, I did not say that," the snake said, slithering his tongue lazily. He had the same sort of tone that Albus got when he was trying to sound clever. Lily saw right through that. "At any rate, my advice to you is this. Tell your brother to seek out those with power enough to save the school. Again, I do not know what must be done to save the future, but I have faith in you, Lily Potter."_

_"Um, thanks," Lily said. "Oh, I'm sorry, I never asked what your name was."_

_"There is no need to apologize, hatchling. Long ago, one of your kind named me Oxalion, and bid me watch over this world after he was gone and could watch it no more. That is what you may call me, if you desire."_

_"Oxalion," repeated Lily carefully. It wasn't the easiest name to say. "How long do we have before something sets fire to the sky?"_

_"You have until the end of the year. When the sun rises on the year 2018, it will be too late."_

_Well that wasn't so bad, thought Lily. That was still a few months away, which was good since she had absolutely no idea what to do. Who should she be looking for, again, someone who had unusual powers at Hogwarts? She hoped James would know who that was. Someone had to know._

_"It is time for you to return to your world. Do not forget, and do what must be done," Oxalion said, bowing his head to her again._

_"Wait, Oxalion!" Lily said, alarmed by the suddenness of it all. She didn't feel like she knew anywhere near enough. "What is-"_

Lily awoke with a start. Her mother was sitting at the foot of her bed smiling down at her.

"Did you have a good nap, Lily-bean?" Mum asked, smiling cheerfully at her. Lily just scowled. She wasn't really mad at her mother, but it was frustrating that she was woken up before she had been able to learn more. She didn't understand nearly enough, and now there was no way to find any more answers.

"Something wrong?" Mum asked, looking at Lily with concern.

"No, I'm fine," Lily lied, sitting up slowly. James... she needed to tell James what had happened. "I thought you were going to Hogwarts with Auntie Hermione."

"I did, but that was hours ago, dear," Mum said, ruffling Lily's hair fondly. She wished her mother wouldn't do that. It always messed her hair up. But right now there were bigger things to worry about than her hair.

"Mum, I want to send an owl to James, but I want it to be private. Is-is that ok?" Lily asked. Her mother gave her a strange look, but said it was fine. It would mean getting one of the post owls to come by the house and pick it up. For some reason Lily didn't understand, Daddy refused to own an owl. It had never made much sense to her.

Mum looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end she got up to leave without saying a word. Lily didn't like confusing her mother like this, but there was just no way to tell her the truth. These things she saw were real, but she knew no one would believe her. No one but James. Probably.

"Mum," Lily said impulsively as her mother reached the door. "There isn't... isn't any way to set the sky on fire, is there?"

"What?" Her mother asked, completely shocked. "What are you talking about, Lily?"

"N-nothing, it was just a dream. I had a dream that the sky was on fire," Lily said quickly.

"There's nothing to worry about, dear," Mum said soothingly, "A dream is just a dream."

Lily put on a false smile to reassure Mum as she left the room. When she was alone again, Lily lay back on her pillow and sighed. If only what Mum said was true... but it wasn't. Hopefully James would believe her. He just had to. She got out of bed and started writing her letter.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 A Gentle Pull in the Right Direction

It all started Wednesday evening, when Madam Abbott finally released Harry from the hospital wing. Harry had missed the last class of the afternoon because of the effects of magic drain, and in truth he still felt pretty out of it when he managed to convince the healer that he was "totally fine". He wanted to go to his first Astronomy class if he could, it sounded exciting. Sure, he lied a little bit about he was feeling, but only because sitting in the hospital wing with nothing to do was dreary and dull. As he left the hospital wing, Harry figured that pretty much anything would be better than just sitting around. He soon learned he was quite wrong.

The first thing that happened was that he ran into James Potter… quite literally. Everything was spinning just a little bit, and Harry had been walking with one hand pressing against the wall for support. Right as he went to turn the corner, he collided with James, who was coming from the other direction. James was a good deal bigger than Harry was, and Harry fell on his butt painfully.

"Oi, you ok?" James said, rubbing his chin which had collided with Harry's forehead. When he saw who it was, though, his tone grew hard. "Oh, it's you Wiggins. You ought to watch where you're going."

"Sorry," muttered Harry, who wasn't really very sorry. It wasn't his fault any more than it had been James's. Plus, Harry had gotten the worst of it.

"Don't just stand there, James, help him up," Rose said reprovingly stepping out from behind her cousin. Rose moved to where Harry was lying and offered her hand to help him up. He knew he should have just taken it, but he didn't. Maybe it was because he was tired and dizzy and irritable and in pain. Maybe it was because he wanted her to stop pretending to be his friend so it wouldn't hurt as much when her true feelings came out later. Maybe he was just being childish, or maybe there was absolutely no reason at all. Whatever the case, Harry ignored Rose's hand and struggled to his feet himself, using the wall for support.

"What's the deal with you, Harry?" Rose asked with a hurt look on her face. "Hey, are you alright?" She said as he stumbled a bit. "Is this from what happened in Data class?" She just sounded concerned and curious, not angry or scared. Harry wondered if maybe he should just answer her. Maybe he was wrong about...

"Who is this little boy?" Asked a tall, blonde girl suddenly, coming to stand beside James. Her eyes regarded Harry with a look of faint disapproval. He felt his spirits plummeting even further. Not that they had been very high up until this point anyways.

"This is Harry Wiggins, Victoire," James said dismissively. "He's just a first-year Slytherin."

"James that's not-," Rose started to say, but James ignored her and proceeded to act as if Harry were not there. He turned to Victoire and said, "So where is your brother, anyways? We said we would visit Domi at seven."

"He's always late," Victoire said, thoroughly unconcerned. She shifted her attention to Harry once again and narrowed her pretty eyes dangerously. "You're a funny lot, you Slytherins, cursing my younger sister like that. Really amusing."

"Vic, Harry didn't have anything to do with that!" Protested Rose. Harry didn't even hear her, not really. He was too upset with what Victoire had said. Why did she think it was alright to blame him for something that he had absolutely nothing to do with? She didn't know a single thing about him; they had never met before. Plus, he had felt bad for Dominique from the very moment he heard what had happened to her. But none of that seemed to matter one bit to this girl. It was somehow his fault for being a Slytherin... and they were always the ones to blame. How was that fair?

"I think that moustache really suits her actually," Harry snapped. Thinking back on it later, he couldn't really believe that he actually said it. He really had felt bad for Dominique Weasley only a minute before, and had never said something that mean to anyone in his entire life. Anyone but Cassy, that is... but sisters were different. He just wanted to lash out, to make them feel as bad as they had made him feel. At the time, he didn't feel sorry at all.

"Harry!" Rose gasped, "How can you say something like that?"

"What's the big deal?" Muttered Harry, pushing past her and making his way down the hallway. "I am just a stupid Slytherin, after all."

"Harry, when I said that I didn't mean..." Rose said in a quiet, quivering voice.

"Rose, just let the little boy throw his tantrum if he wants," James said from behind Harry. "It's best to leave people like him alone."

Rose didn't say anything else as Harry walked away, not looking back. He half-wondered what look she had on her face as he walked away, but he didn't turn around to look. More than likely, seeing her look of hurt outrage would just make him start crying again. He didn't want to cry anymore, not over stuff like this. It wasn't like they had really been friends anyways.

When Harry finally made his way back to the Slytherin common room, he realized that he didn't remember the trip back at all. It wasn't that he had been thinking about anything, really, his mind had just been completely blank. Not thinking... not thinking was better sometimes. He stepped through the portrait hole, intent on going straight to bed. It didn't matter how early it was, he was done with this day.

"There he is, the boy wonder," Courtney Stubbs said as he started across the common room. She rushed up to him before he could make his way up to the dormitory. She looked even more unpleasant than usual.

"We want to talk to you," Kevin Reese said, putting his arm on Harry's shoulder. Harry tried to shrug the boy off irritably, but Kevin was a lot stronger than he was.

"What's your rush, half-breed?" Courtney asked, smiling her ugly smile at him.

"Just leave me alone," Harry said, who was in no mood for these clowns. He wondered how much trouble he would get into if he cursed these two and just made his way up to the dormitory. He might have done it too, but sadly he didn't know any curses like that.

With a sigh, Harry let them lead him over to where the other first-year Slytherins were gathered. Even Clytemnestra was there, sitting on the ground with her back to the others, her knees tucked under her chin and her eyes staring into the green fire. They had all been waiting around to talk to him, but he had nothing he wanted to say to any of them. He just wanted to be alone.

"What was that back in class?" Scorpius asked before anyone else said anything. He sounded amazed, or maybe a little afraid. "How were you able to use that much magic?"

"I don't know," Harry replied tonelessly, which wasn't really true. But he had no desire to explain Trace Theory to Malfoy and the others. The others clearly did not believe him.

"Just how powerful are you?" Courtney demanded. "You're not going to go crazy on us, are you?"

"What?" Harry asked, staring at her.

"The really powerful wizards, they're the ones who crack and lost control of their powers," Courtney said. "You seem to have way too much power to handle, since you're not all that bright. I don't want you blowing me up or something by accident."

"I might just end up doing that on purpose," Harry said angrily, but secretly he was scared. What if he was a danger to everyone? What if he couldn't keep control of his powers? Hermione hadn't mentioned anything about that... but that didn't mean it couldn't happen. What if Hermione didn't even know how dangerous he was?

"What's the deal with you and Gryffindors?" J.B. asked after everyone was quiet for a while. He sounded angry, far angrier than he usually was. "You seemed pretty friendly with that Weasley girl."

"What do you care?" Harry demanded, feeling even worse than before with him bringing up Rose again. He hadn't thought that was possible.

"I hate Gryffindors," J.B. said viciously. "They think they're all a bunch of heroes, but they have just as much blood on their hands as anyone. If you're on their side..."

"Look, I don't have any friends in Gryffindor," Harry shouted, getting to his feet.

"You don't have any friends anywhere, do you half-breed?" Kevin Reese said with a sneer. Without thinking, Harry began reaching for his wand. He didn't know what he was going to do with it, but he was on the verge of simply waving it and seeing what happened. It was all too much. Why didn't they just leave him alone?

Suddenly Clytemnestra Lestrange stood up, moving to stand right in front of Harry. They were almost exactly the same height, and her sparkling blue eyes stared into his. She had never stood this close to him before... actually no girl had ever stood this close to him before. It was really strange, but not bad really...

"Go to bed," she said quietly, dropping her eyes but not stepping away from him.

"W-what?" Harry said, completely shocked. The other first year Slytherins just stared at her, their mouths hanging open.

"You look tired, go to bed," Clytemnestra said, putting her hand on his right arm, which had been on the verge of drawing his wand. It was warm... he hadn't expected her hand to be so warm. Harry stared at her, his tired mind struggling to make sense. Did... did she know what he'd been thinking? Did she know he had been ready to attack everyone? How could she have known that?

"When I look tired, Aunt Andromeda always tells me to go to bed," Clytemnestra said quietly, flicking her eyes up to look at him again. There was no mistaking it, he saw a look of understanding in her eyes. It was like she knew... she definitely knew. But how... why? It made no sense.

"Go."

Harry nodded, stumbling backwards. He tried to use his mouth to form words, but he couldn't. Nothing came out. He was either too tired or too confused... or probably both. Giving up, Harry turned around and walked away, climbing the steps up to the dormitory. He collapsed onto his bed, utterly spent. Then it hit him, all the things that he had said and done. He had yelled at Rose and James. He had said mean, hurtful things. He had nearly attack the other Slytherins. He might have hurt them. He could have killed...

Harry cried for a long, long time, unable to believe the things he was capable of doing. He swore to himself that he would never let it happen again. He would never, ever lose control like that. It didn't matter how tired or upset or angry he was, he wasn't going to lash out. Because if he did... there was no telling what might happen. Harry curled into a ball and fell into a restless sleep.

Thursday was a sign of the days to come. None of the other Slytherin boys woke him up, and so he was late getting down to breakfast. J.B. might have done it once, but not anymore. No one talked to him during breakfast... or during Magic Theory... or during Potions where he sat by himself at the table in the back. Professor Evergreen glanced at him curiously as he called roll, but did not force him to sit with anyone like he'd made Clytemnestra on the first day. Rose and Albus looked over at him several times during class, but Harry never met their gaze.

Friday was the same way, as was the weekend. Harry did homework alone, ate alone, went to sleep alone, and avoided everyone as much as possible. He spoke to no one, and no one spoke to him. Samantha was the only one that didn't seem to be angry or afraid of him, but she really wasn't much of talker herself, so even if she was around he more or less spent his time in silence anyways.

The only person he had any desire to see was Clytemnestra. Harry found himself staring at her more and more when they were in class together. The strange thing was that she never seemed to be around anywhere outside of class. Harry had no idea where she disappeared off to while the others were in the common room. He spent more and more of his time wondering about her. Who was she exactly? Everyone seemed to think she was the daughter of someone who died long, long ago, but no one seemed likely to explain to him how that was even possible. All of a sudden, he remembered that he and Rose had agreed to visit Hagrid's hut on Friday to try and get answers to that very question. He wondered if Rose had ended up going there together with Albus and maybe with a few of their other cousins. Whatever the case, she was better off without him. Harry had thought at first that he had been put into Slytherin unfairly, but maybe this was where he belonged, far from everyone else. After all, he had proved that night that he was dangerous. It was best to just keep quiet and do everything alone.

Sometimes when Harry was staring at Clytemnestra, she would meet his eyes for a second or two. He never really understood what she was thinking, but in a way she seemed to understand him. She certainly had that night, when she had stopped him from doing... who knows what. How had she known? He almost wanted to ask, but could never find the words. So in the end, he never said anything and neither did she. As the days crept by, it was a very real possibility that his voice had stopped working altogether. Harry wondered if that would be a problem.

The next week was even more of the same, as the other students got used to the way things were at Hogwarts, Harry got used to his pattern of silence. Every morning, he tried to come down every day after the morning mail delivery was over. Not that he was afraid of owls of course, he just preferred not to be around when they were. The only problem was that it didn't leave him much time to eat... but then he didn't do much of that anyways. Samantha forced him to eat sometimes, but if she was distracted or in a bad mood or simply indifferent he more or less ate nothing. In general, nobody seemed to care much what he did… so he did nothing. It was oddly relaxing.

They started using magic in most of their classes, practicing simple charms in Charms and simple inanimate transfiguration in Transfiguration. They didn't look very hard, but Harry didn't even try to cast the spells. He gave a few pretend waves with his twisted wand to satisfy the professors, who assured him that he would get it if he kept practicing. Eventually he would have to use magic again, but he wasn't going to unless he had to. Harry just didn't have any desire to use real magic... not when it could be dangerous. What if he wasn't able to control it and someone got hurt? No, it was better this way.

They had Astronomy on Wednesday nights, and old Professor Sinistra spent the first five minutes of class berating Harry for missing class the week before, the night he had just gone to bed forgetting all about the night class. He felt a bit guilty, but honestly couldn't have been able to handle a class at the time. He somehow managed to avoid detention and spent the rest of class avoiding the delighted smirks of the other Slytherins, who seemed to love watching people who weren't them getting yelled at. Harry pretended he really didn't care very much and focused on memorizing the constellations. That was what they were supposed to be doing, after all.

Towards the end of the week, Harry got the feeling that he would have to start using magic soon, since it wouldn't be long until the professors caught on to his little act. Professor Mason had a knowing look in his eye when he told Harry to make sure he kept practicing on his own. The classes where they did nothing but writing were almost a relief, despite the fact that they were dull. History of Magic was the worst, it was taught by a little ghost named Professor Binns, who seemed to possess a magic voice that placed a sleeping enchantment on the class. It was a shame, really, since the stories of famous witches and wizards throughout history were really quite interesting. Merlin, Morgana, Circe, Dumbledore and so on had led really fascinating lives. It was too bad that it was all Harry could do to stay awake.

The end of Harry's second week found him lying in his bed in the early afternoon, looking up at the ceiling. They only had three classes on Fridays, and now that they were over he was in no mood to do anything else. Suddenly the door to the dormitory flew open and Harry sat up in startled confusion.

"Hey-what?" Harry managed before Atalanta sped over to his bed, her arms folded in front of her chest. She was small for a fifteen-year-old girl, but she till managed to tower over him. She did not look happy.

"What the hell are you doing, Halo?" Atalanta said in a low growl. "Get up."

"You-you're not allowed in here. This is a boy's... OUCH!"

Atalanta was done talking; she grabbed a hold of his hair and pulled him out of bed.

"Okokok," Harry moaned, shuffling behind her as she marched him out of the dormitory. Harry thought that she might let go of his hair while they walked down the stairs, but Atalanta clearly had other ideas. She held on tight as she forced him down the stairs and across the common room. It hurt... a lot. There weren't too many Slytherins around, but the ones that were laughing hysterically. Harry caught a glimpse of Destiny Udoh and Amelia Runcorn sitting by the fire, rolling around in a fit of giggles. He rather doubted it was _that _funny.

Atalanta led him by the hair through the castle, ignoring his questions and pleas that she let go of him. Harry lost all track of where they were, focusing only on shuffling his feet along so that it didn't hurt so much. Maybe he shouldn't have let it grow so long. It just made it easier for Atalanta to grab. If he had known...

"Miss Selwyn, what are you doing?" Professor Mason called out suddenly, striding over to frown down them. Harry had never been so glad to see a professor before. He was saved!

"Teaching," Atalanta said calmly, not letting go of Harry's hair.

"Teaching..." Professor Mason echoed, his mouth arranged in a thin smile.

"Yes. Halo here is having a difficult time interacting with others and making friends."

"I see," Professor Mason said, clearly trying not to laugh. "Are you sure you're the most qualified person to instruct young Harry on this matter, Atalanta?"

Atalanta scowled, pulling Harry away by the hair. "I-ouch... Professor Mason...help! "

"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry, but it would be impolite for me to interrupt someone else's lesson. Carry on, Professor Selwyn." Professor Mason gave him a cheery wave, and walked away without another word. And so they marched on.

They made their way outside, and Harry's had to blink several times to get adjusted to the light. It had been a while since he had gone outside, since he spent most of his time inside the dungeon. Why was Atalanta leading him outside? What was she planning?

"Here," Atalanta said at last, throwing him down onto the soft grass. Harry struggled to sit up and find where he was. He sat up, and found himself face to face with Rose, who was staring at him in disbelief. She was sitting at his favourite spot by the lake... and they were way too close to each other. Harry scrambled back, not at all understanding what was happening.

"I brought Halo here for you, Weasley," Atalanta said, folding her arms again irritably.

"Oh, um, thank you," Rose said in a little voice, looking completely lost. "W-who are you, exactly?"

"I'm Atalanta Selwyn, Slytherin prefect," she announced glaring expectantly at Harry, who just stared up at her in shock. "Cassandra Wiggins told me to go find her worthless brother and drag him out here. She said that you wanted to talk to him, but that he was being... difficult."

"Oh, I..." Rose mumbled, blushing furiously. She obviously hadn't intended for Harry to actually be _dragged_ anywhere. That was just Atalanta being Atalanta.

"My sister put you up to this?" Harry asked, massaging his head.

"She hasn't seen you in days, none of us have," snapped Atalanta. "She was worried and kept pestering me to make sure you were alright, so I had to do something just to shut her up. Anyways, apparently this Weasley wants to talk to you."

"T-that's right," Rose said, glancing at Atalanta nervously. Clearly Rose was as intimidated by her as Harry was and didn't know what to say next.

"Fine, I'll let you two talk alone," Atalanta said with an irritated snort, as if they were annoying her. "And Halo, if you don't stop acting like an idiot I'm going to have to curse the stupid out of you." Giving him vicious glare, Atalanta stormed away.

Harry and Rose looked at each other in silence, both feeling rather awkward. Rose certainly didn't look mad at him... in spite of everything he had said and done. Why wasn't she mad at him?

"I didn't mean for that girl to drag you out here or anything, but I had a talk with your sister because I didn't know what else to do. I told her… well… I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Rose said, curling her hands into fists. She seemed quite upset, but with herself rather than him. It made no sense. "I wasn't thinking when said that Grant was just a stupid Slytherin. I didn't think about what you might..."

"Why are you apologizing?" Harry blurted, staring at her in shock. He was the one who had...

"I... I made you mad," Rose said, blinking her eyes rapidly. She looked like she might be about to cry. That wasn't right, he had to do something. Harry didn't want to see her cry.

"But it's my fault," Harry said loudly. "Everything was my fault! I said those terrible things about your cousin, and I didn't mean them. And I pushed you and everyone away because..." Harry faltered. He didn't know what to say anymore. All the things he had been thinking, the walls he had been building, didn't make sense out here in the sunshine. Why had he been running away from everyone again? "You... you are the one who should be mad at me!"

"Oh. Well I'm not, sorry," Rose said smiling slightly. "I'm just confused. You just disappeared all of a sudden. You ought to tell your friends before you go and do something like that, Harry. "

Harry stared at her smiling at him, wondering how he could have been so wrong. Rose didn't secretly hate him after all, like had had feared she would, he had been wrong about the whole thing. Had it really all just been in his head? He felt like such an idiot_. You ought to tell your friends_... Harry couldn't help it, he started crying. All the doubt and loneliness he had been piling on top of himself for the past week and a half came spilling out. He didn't like crying in front of Rose, it was embarrassing, but he couldn't help it. After all, no eleven-year-old was meant to feel that alone.

After a while, Harry managed to more or less stop crying a little, and he proceeded to tell Rose everything that had been happening to him, from the very beginning when he hadn't gotten a letter from Hogwarts. He left nothing out, even telling her everything Hermione and Ginny had told him. Rose was a rather impatient listener, interrupting him frequently to ask questions. It was really rather obnoxious, but Harry found he didn't care one bit. It was just so nice to share everything with a friend.

"So you said that the Lestrange girl definitely stopped you, knowing what you were going to do?" Rose asked, staring out across the water. "But how could she have known? Did she read your mind or something?"

Harry didn't say anything. He was still too ashamed of what he had almost done that night. It still scared him to think of the things he was capable of saying and doing.

"Well, we won't get any answers sitting here," Rose said, springing to her feet. She looked so excited to be working on a mystery. "Let's go to Hagrid's and make him tell us the girl's secrets. You did sort of ditch me last week."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Harry said, smiling at her sudden burst of energy. He just couldn't manage to brood or worry anymore. "All right, let's go."

Rose offered her hand to help him up, and this time he took it. Together they walked to Hagrid's hut, talking the whole way about all manner of nothing. Harry'd had his fill of saying nothing. From here on out, he was going to talk nonstop to make up for all the time he'd lost. As the made their way through Hagrid's patch of giant pumpkins, Harry promised himself two things. First, that he would be less of an idiot and consider things carefully before jumping to conclusions. Second, that he would never doubt Rose Weasley again.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 Family and Friends

Rose knocked on the door of Hagrid's hut, and that set off an explosion of barking from the other side of the door.

"Back, back yeh darned beast," bellowed Hagrid, who moments later opened the door and beamed down at them. "Rose, it's good ter see yeh, an' young Harry Wiggins too. Come in, come in, yeh couldn'ta picked a better time."

Hagrid waved them inside with his big hand, and as they entered Harry saw that they were not alone. Albus Potter was sitting in a chair that was much too big for him, looking utterly miserable. He waved to them vaguely, and went back to petting Hagrid's... er... dog. If Harry had to guess, he probably would have wagered that it was half-wolf, half-huskie, which was not something that Harry had any desire to pet. The creature blinked at the new arrivals in a bored sort of way before going back to licking Albus's hand. Rose went to greet her cousin, but Harry stayed as far away from the wolf-dog as he could. It wasn't that he was afraid of animals, of course, he just preferred that they stay away from him... at all times. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?

"The tea is almost ready," Hagrid said cheerfully, laying out four large mugs and grabbing the large pot of tea from the fireplace. Hagrid wasn't the most graceful person that Harry had ever met, and he managed to spill a good deal of tea everywhere as he poured. Hagrid didn't seem to mind, though, and he smiled broadly at Harry, who was still standing by the doorway.

"Don' just stand there, Wiggins, have a seat," Hagrid ordered, waving him over enthusiastically. Harry sighed inwardly, knowing he had no choice. He walked over slowly, trying to not draw the dog-wolf's attention as he sat down beside Rose. Naturally, the beast seemed to sense his unease (not fear, definitely not fear) and immediately shifted its attention to him, sniffing his shoes as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. Harry sipped his scalding hot tea slowly and tried not to pay any attention to the creature sniffing him. He hoped that if he didn't pet it, it would get bored and go away. The animal, though, seemed to have other ideas, placing its head on Harry's knee and licking his left kneecap in a contented sort of way.

"So what seems ter be troublin' yeh, Albus?" Hagrid asked, gesturing with his stirring spoon in the boy's direction. A few drops of milk hit Albus right in the eyes, who blinked and muttered, "I-it's nothing."

Rose sighed in an exaggerated sort of way, clearly fed up with boys who refused to talk about their problems. Harry watched Albus closely, for he reminded Harry a lot of how he had been acting the past few days. "You can tell us, Albus," Harry said, giving the boy a reassuring smile. "You ought to tell your friends if something is wrong."

Rose beamed at Harry, and Hagrid nodded his shaggy grey head in approval. Albus, though, just looked at Harry in surprise and said, "Harry, you're talking to us again?" Albus probably didn't mean for it to come out as an accusation, but Harry couldn't help feeling rather guilty.

"I was being dumb these past few days," Harry said, deciding that he wouldn't let Albus make the same mistakes he had. He couldn't sit by and let anyone go through days of loneliness like that, not even someone like Courtney who most certainly deserved it. Focus, Harry told himself firmly, shaking his head to clear it.

"Er, well, anyways," Harry said, trying to remember what he had been trying to say. "Oh, right, it's no good trying to deal with things yourself, not when there are people around who want to help you. Whatever it is, you can count on us if you just tell us what's wrong."

Rose nodded firmly and Albus looked back and forth between the two of them, still reluctant to talk about whatever was troubling him. At last the boy took a deep breath and said, "It's my brother, he's being..."

"He's being James, like always," Rose interrupted the way she always did, already guessing what he would say. She shook her head sadly and said, "I've told you before that you can't let him get to you. He only keeps teasing you because you let it bother you."

"No, that's not it. This is different, there's something going on—something he's not telling me." Albus took a deep breath before continuing. "A few days back, he got a letter from home, and when he read it he got all... serious and stuff. Ever since then, he has been distracted and worried. I tried to ask him what had happened, but he just told me to shove off and mind my own business. Since then, he's been worse to me than usual... and I just don't know what I should do."

Harry and Rose exchanged surprised looks. Harry didn't actually know James very well, and they weren't exactly on good terms, so he couldn't think of any way he could possibly help Albus. Still, he wanted to try, if only to make Albus feel better. Harry looked at Rose, who was biting her lip and thinking.

"He hasn't seemed that different to me," Rose said, thinking back. "Well actually, now that you mention it, he has been rather..." She frowned. "Honestly, if you hadn't mentioned that letter, I would have thought that James was just being his usual annoying self. Are you sure it isn't just nothing?"

Albus shook his head firmly. "I know something's wrong. He's my brother, after all, I can tell these sorts of things."

"Alright, I'll try to talk to him," Rose said, squeezing Albus's arm reassuringly. "I know you said you want to help, Harry, but I don't know if there's anything you can do. James... er... isn't very fond of Slytherins." Harry just nodded. He had managed to figure out that much on his own.

"Not fond o' Slytherins, eh?" Hagrid asked, speaking for the first time in a while. "Well there's a lot o' bad blood between the Potters an' various older families in Slytherin, but yer dad tried ter put all tha' behind him an' make peace."

"Really?" Harry asked, stunned. He had no idea that Harry Potter had made such an effort to make peace with the older pureblood families. He had never heard that from anyone.

"Don' get me wrong," Hagrid said, "Harry had his fair share o' enemies in Slytherin, an' so did his dad before him, but neither o' em really thought that the whole house was evil, at least not after they grew up. The pair of em coulda used a bit more sense between the ears durin' their time at Hogwarts, if yeh ask me, but they turned out all righ' in the end. James seems ter be goin' through tha' same phase, but he'll get over it. After all, there's nothin' wrong with bein' a Slytherin. It's yer actions tha' yer responsible fer, not where some moldy old hat puts yeh. Why, yer livin' proof o' tha', Harry."

Harry just nodded in agreement, truly believing for the first time that the words Hagrid spoke were true. He had gotten himself all worked by convincing himself that there was something wrong with him and that nobody could possibly be friends with someone who had been sorted in Slytherin. Rose and Albus had proved that wasn't the case, though, and just because some people like James might hold it against him didn't mean that they were right. Honestly, the whole thing probably came from the fact that Harry himself had been convinced that there was something wrong with Slytherins. If he hadn't been sorted there, he would be acting the same way James did towards the Slytherins. It was still very confusing, but Harry had made a mistake cutting himself off and thinking himself into circles. He had managed to convincing himself that everyone hated him and that there was something wrong with him, despite the fact that neither of those things were true. Now he knew better and no matter what anyone said, he wasn't going to let himself get worked up like that anymore. If he did, he would just let everyone down again.

"Hagrid," Rose said, petting the dog-wolf absentmindedly, for it had finally gotten bored of Harry and left him in peace. "What do you think we should we do to help James. I mean, what if something really is wrong… like something important?"

"I'm sure there's nothin' ter worry abou'," Hagrid said, spilling more tea everywhere as he refilled their cups. "Yer all just kids, after all. No need ter run off an' save the world, yer parents already did tha' fer yeh." Hagrid winked at Rose, who giggled.

"All yeh can do is try ter be there fer him. Tha's what family is fer, after all." Hagrid looked down at his mug with thoughtful look on his face. In that moment, he looked to Harry like a wise old sage, for he had an air of shrewd wisdom around him. The moment passed, and Hagrid took a big gulp of tea and said to Rose, "So how's tha' brother o' yers doin'? I haven't seen him in a while."

Rose didn't say anything, instead making at face and gulping her tea so she didn't have to reply. "You still haven't written to him, have you?" Albus guessed.

"Hugo's being a little brat, so there's no reason why I have to write him." Rose sounded angrily, but she clearly felt guilty because she refused to look at any of them. "He'd probably just throw the letter away without reading it anyways. He's so jealous, but it's not my fault that he's too young to..." She trailed off, muttering quietly to herself.

"He's yer brother, yeh just have ter forgive him," Hagrid said. "Tha's what older sisters do."

Rose scowled and didn't respond, attacking one of Hagrid's misshaped, lumpy cookies with her teeth as if it was responsible for her brother's attitude. Harry was also quiet, thinking about his own sister. He had been really selfish lately, not bothering to consider what his silence might do to the people around him. It had probably been the worst on Cassy, who hadn't seen or spoken to her little brother in over a week. Harry really hoped that Hagrid was right, and that it was his older sister's job to forgive him when he did something stupid. He stood up suddenly, knowing that he had to go apologize to her as soon as possible.

"I-I have to go, sorry," Harry said lamely, and they all stared at him in surprise. Hagrid was the first to react, saying, "Tha's fine, I ought ter head into the forest anyways ter... well, never yeh mind." He stroked his beard uncomfortably, as if he had said something he shouldn't have. It was then that Rose remembered the reason they had actually come to visit Hagrid.

"Hey, wait, we wanted to ask you about the Lestr-"

"Well, off yeh go," Hargid interrupted, shepherding them out the door with his big hands. Rose protested furiously, but could get no answer as Hagrid bade them goodbye and shut the door. Rose sighed theatrically, and stomped off towards the castle in a towering rage. Clearly, she hated when she couldn't figure things out. Albus and Harry exchanged half-nervous, half-amused glanced and followed after her, keeping a safe distance behind her of course.

Harry spent the walk back trying to think of what he would say to Cassy, but he had limited success. There seemed no way to express himself in words, at least not the ones that an eleven-year-old had ready access to. It was all for naught anyways, for just as Rose, Albus and Harry came to the front door, Cassy came hurrying out, dressed in blue Quidditch robes and carrying her Nimbus L7 over her shoulder.

"You!" Cassy said, stopping dead as she saw Harry. They both stood there, looking at each other in silence for a moment before Cassy grasped her broom like a club and advanced on her brother.

"Where (whack) HAVE (whack) you (whack) BEEN (thwack)?!" Cassy said, repeatedly hitting her brother in his big, stupid head. She didn't hit him as hard as she could have, but that was more out of concern for her broomstick than for the fool's head. He had already proven that there wasn't much going on up there.

"Ouch, I'm sorry, Cass," Harry said raising his arms to shield himself. Rose and Albus watched uncertainly, wondering if they ought to do something. Both decided against getting involved, for Harry's sister was holding the broomstick as if she meant business.

"I-I didn't mean to... I'm really sorry." Harry said, close to tears again. He had really made a mess of things.

"Hey, it's alright," Cassy said, sensing immediately that her brother's attitude had changed. She put down the broomstick, and put her arm around her little brother, stroking his hair gently. It really was too long, she thought as she ruffled it affectionately. "You just had me worried a little. And honestly, if you make me go to Selwyn again for help I might never forgive you."

Harry smiled and hugged his sister close.

"I see you got through to him, Weasley," Cassy said, nodding to Rose.

"Call me Rose," Rose replied, coming to stand beside Harry now that the threat of broomstick attack had passed. "And this is my cousin, Albus Potter."

"Hi," Albus said self-consciously, as if he didn't like being introduced with his full name. Harry figured he had probably had some uncomfortable experiences, given how famous his father was.

"James's brother, huh?" Cassy said. "You know you two look a lot alike, except the eyes. You have..."

"My father's eyes" Rose and Albus finished simultaneously, as if they had heard it a million times. Cassy just laughed, not at all offended. She clearly liked these two.

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have Quidditch try-outs this afternoon, and I can't be the seeker if I miss them." She gave them a confident little smile, but Harry could tell she was nervous. No one else could possibly have known, but there are things something you can't hide from your siblings, no matter how hard you try. "Wish me luck," Cassy said waving and turning to go.

"Wait, Cassy," Harry said, making his decision impulsively. "I-I'm going too. I'll cheer you on."

Cassy looked at her brother in surprise, but she realized that she should have known he would say that. After all, Halo had always been like that, going all out to make someone, even a total stranger, feel better. He had been acting differently ever since he had been sorted into Slytherin, but it seemed that her little Halo was back. She'd always told Harry that the nickname didn't mean anything, just the combination of Harry his first name and Lawrence his middle name, but that wasn't entirely true. A halo was a ring of light that surrounded someone, keeping them safe from evil. Harry really was her Halo, her little ray of light that lit up the world. He had always been that, and still was.

"Alright," Cassy said casually, revealing nothing of how much it meant to her. "I guess you can tag along, Halo. You guys are welcome too, if you won't get bored."

"I love watching Quidditch!" Albus said enthusiastically, while Rose shrugged indifferently. Harry could tell that she didn't really care very much, but was happy to go wherever he and Albus went. It made him very happy to have a friend like that. He couldn't believe that he had actually doubted her. Together, the four of them set off to the Quidditch stadium.

Honestly, the try-outs weren't very interesting, at least not to Harry and Rose. The seeker try-outs were last, and they had to wait quite a while there were open trials for chaser and beater. Albus soaked it all up like a sponge, spewing off interesting Quidditch facts that, frankly, weren't interesting to the other two. After relating how a boy named Tommy Kincaide had scored a penalty try just like the Egyptian international chaser Ephraim Mohammed Salah, Rose had quite enough of that and decided to steer the conversation in a new direction.

"So why does your sister call you Halo. And that Slytherin girl, the scary one, called you that too."

"Uh, yeah, it's my nickname," Harry muttered, figuring he probably couldn't lie. Way too many people had started calling him that recently. He didn't even like that name.

"You had a nickname and didn't tell us?" Albus said, looking hurt.

"Er, sorry." Harry didn't really think it was a big deal, but the others clearly disagreed.

"Ooo, your sister is about to get on her broom, Halo," Albus said excitedly.

"Listen, I don't really like that..."

"Sh, Halo, you'll distract her," Rose said, shaking her head in disapproval. At this point Harry knew that it was no good. Sighing heavily, Harry turned his attention to watching his sister fly.

Cassy was good, in Harry's opinion far better than the others who had tried out, despite the fact that she was only a third year. The Ravenclaw captain told them all he would inform them of his decision on Monday, and ended the try-out. They hurried over to Cassy, who was talking with some of the Ravenclaws who had tried out.

"You were awesome, Cass!" Harry said, hugging her excitedly. He didn't care if he looked silly, he wanted to let his sister know how cool she was. So what if people laughed at him?

But the only one who laughed was Cassy, who messed up his hair and said, "That's enough, little Halo. Thanks for coming to support, all of you." She smiled at Rose and Albus, both of whom looked awkward. Being thanked in front of strangers always felt a little strange. "Rose, Albus, Halo, these are my friends Tommy Kincaide and Miriam Tuttle. With any luck, we'll all make the team this year."

Tommy and Miriam seemed nice enough, and they didn't seem concerned that a bunch of first years from different houses had watched them try out. They didn't even laugh when Albus began talking all about Salah and penalties. Tommy seemed to rather enjoy it, actually, and the two of them sort of wandered away with the promise of letting Albus fly around on Tommy's broomstick. Miriam smiled, mentioned something about studying (it was Friday for goodness sake) and left as well. Harry, Cassy and Rose walked around the grounds, talking about nothing. After a while Rose grew quiet, and the Wiggins children could tell that something was bothering her.

"What's up, Rosie?" Harry asked, throwing a stone into the lake.

"It's just... you two seem so close." Rose didn't look at them, instead she stared in the direction of the setting sun. "My brother and I have never been like that. He's just so difficult and..." She didn't know what else to say, so she said nothing.

"You think he's easy to deal with... have you met him?" Cassy said, gesturing to Harry, and Rose giggled reluctantly.

"Honestly, we fight all the time," Harry said, grinning at his sister.

"He's beyond annoying, and there are days where it's all I can do to keep myself from strangling him."

"She's unbelievably bossy, and you saw how she likes to hit me with things. But..."

"But he's my brother, and I know he'll always be there for me when I need him," Cassy finished, knowing what her brother had been about to say. She put her hand on Rose's shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "It's not always easy, but if I remember that, all the dumb stuff my brother doesn't seem so bad. And dumb or not, he's still my brother."

Rose nodded slowly, and said simply, "I have to go."

"Where are you off to, Rosie?" Harry asked, but he already knew the answer. He just wanted her to say it out loud.

"I have to send a letter to my brother," Rose said smiling warmly at him. She gave them both a wave, and left without another word.

"She's pretty cute, you know," Cassy said when she and he brother were alone. She watched him closely, wondering how he would react.

"I-is she?" Harry said, uncertainly, not entirely sure why that mattered. Cassy sighed a little and led the way back to the castle. Well, he was a little young after all. A few more years... Halo would get it eventually.

Later that evening, Harry was sitting in the common room, playing wizard's chess with Samantha, who he had pestered to play with him until she had said yes. His new attitude was obvious to everyone, but it didn't really change very much. Harry still didn't really have any friends in Slytherin, expect for Atalanta, who didn't really count. Plus Atalanta didn't seem to be around, so Samantha was really the only one around who would even talk to him without glaring at him angrily. Courtney was the perfect example of that, and she was sitting in a plump armchair nearby, alternating between reading a book and glaring at Harry. Clearly she did not approve of the fact that Harry was feeling much better. Neither did Samantha, but only because she was currently losing. She did not like to lose.

"Damn you, Simba," she muttered, glaring at the board as his knight pummelled her rook into oblivion. She had been so close to checkmate, but had failed to account for the knight, which had come out of nowhere. Now it was all over. That only made her angrier. "I give up," She huffed, pushing the board away from her.

"Aww, don't be like that, Sammy!" Harry said, grinning ear to ear. Winning was fun.

"Don't call me Sammy," she said very quietly.

"Why not, you call me Simba," Harry said, hurt. Everyone was calling him by one nickname or another these days, but he wasn't allowed to give them to other people?

Samantha didn't respond at once, and Harry could tell that there was something on her mind. He could tell by the hard look in her eyes that it was something that no eleven-year-old should have to deal with. "I... I'm sorry, Samantha."

She fixed her eyes on him, watching him for a long time. Harry would have very much liked to know what she was thinking, but there was no way to tell. "You can call me Sam," she said grudgingly, "but never call me Sammy. You got that?"

Harry and Courtney exchanged confused looks quickly, before both remembered simultaneously that they didn't like each other one bit and went back to glaring at each other.

"S-sure thing, Sam." The look on her face scared him a little, so Harry looked out across the common room. It was packed with Slytherins, all laughing, talking and passing the time the way any group of kids would. In one corner, Liam Reese and a bunch of older boys were gathered in a circle, cheering on two fighting, enchanted dragon-shaped figurines made of plastic... and it seemed to Harry as if they were placing bets on who would win. Amelia Runcorn, Destiny Udoh, and a few older Slytherin girls were sitting in a circle, practising their human transfiguration skills and changing their hair into all sorts of different colours, laughing hysterically at the results. By the fire, a second or third year Slytherin boy was playing with his black cat, enchanting strings that always dangled just out the cat's reach, frustrating the cat to no end. Harry smiled as he watched it. As far as animals went, cats weren't so bad. At least they more or less left him alone. A curious thought struck him as he watched everyone around him acting so... normal. If you didn't know a thing about them, there would be no way to tell just by looking at them that these kids all belonged to a house with a long and dangerous association with the dark arts. He wondered if that meant anything or not.

But Harry thought no more of such things, for his eyes were drawn to Clytemnestra, who was sitting at the far edge of the common room, occupying one of the two armchairs that stood on a little section of floor that extended out into the lake. Harry had always been too intimidated to sit there, because he was afraid of sitting in the middle of the lake like that, with green water all around him. He figured that it was probably safe, since a magic barrier separated the common room and the lake, but sitting under that much water still made him nervous. Clytemnestra, though, seemed perfectly at ease, staring out at the lake above her without blinking. Harry would have given up several weeks' worth of allowance to know what she was thinking in that moment, ignoring the others around her as thoroughly as they ignored her. Harry was pretty sure he was the only one who realized that she was there at all. He was wrong.

"I notice that you keep staring at her, half-breed," Courtney said, following his eyes. "Trying to work up the courage to propose?"

Harry had to fight really hard against the instinct to say something mean back to her, but he managed to control himself. Even if Courtney was a mean little gargoyle, Harry refused to snap at her. He didn't want to be the kind of person who did that, not even to people who most certainly deserved it. Suddenly it came to him, the fact that he was in the presence of the two people who spent more time with Clytemnestra than anyone else at Hogwarts.

"What's she like? You know, when she's in the dormitory," Harry asked, looking eagerly back and forth between Sam and Courtney. The girls exchanged reluctant glances, neither one of them looking keen to discuss this.

"She's... quiet," Sam said unhelpfully. Harry looked at her expectantly, and she scowled. "Oh shove off, Simba, I don't need to answer your stupid questions."

"Please?" Harry asked, giving her a pleading look.

"I-I don't know how to explain it," Sam said, relenting. Harry didn't quite know it yet, but his bright hazel eyes were impossible to resist. "But there's something wrong with that girl, something broken inside her."

"What?" Harry said blankly.

"She's definitely not normal," Courtney added in a whisper, as if afraid that Clytemnestra could hear her all the way across the room. "Never says a thing, not even when I ask her a question. Ignores me like I'm not even there. She's downright rude."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that," Harry said, before he could stop himself. He wasn't doing so well on the whole be-less-mean-to-Courtney thing. Courtney glared at him, but Sam just laughed. The laughter didn't last very long, though.

"Then, of course, there's the nights..." Sam said, her voice trailing off. She looked actually scared, something that Harry had never expected from her. Being scared was for mere mortals, not Samantha Crabbe.

"Night, what happens at night?" Harry asked in a tiny whisper. Courtney shuddered, but didn't say anything. Harry wondered vaguely if they were just messing with him, trying to scare him. If they were, it was working.

"Honestly I don't know what happens, but she has these... dreams." Sam clearly didn't want to talk about it.

"Dreams," Harry repeated, staring over at Clytemnestra again. "What does she dream about?"

"How are we supposed to know that, idiot?" Courtney demanded, glaring at him with her beady eyes. "It's not just dreams, though. Things happen sometimes when she's dreaming."

"What does that mean?"

"Well," Courtney said, glancing nervously at Clytemnestra as if she might get in trouble for telling her story. "A few nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and she was... talking in her sleep."

"She was whimpering, actually," Sam said, interrupting. "Courtney usually sleeps through it, but I don't. It always wakes me up, and it happens most nights. Sometimes she talks, but I don't know what she says, so don't ask me. What really matters is what our shoes were doing."

"Your... what?" Harry asked, completely lost.

"Our shoes—all the shoes in the room." Courtney said, her eyes wide. "They were all hovering in the air, rotating slowly. She was controlling them in her sleep, making all of them float. It was..." She seemed unable to find words to describe exactly what it was.

Harry stared at them, utterly shocked. He could do some strange things, but he certainly couldn't control anything in his sleep like that. He tried to think back on their classes to see if he could anything strange happening when Clytemnestra used magic. Nothing unusual came to mind.

"You... you're joking," Harry said, but he could tell they weren't. Neither of them bothered to respond to that. "Did you tell Professor Mason?" Harry asked. What would the teachers do if they found out about this?

"Of course I did," Courtney said, "but he didn't seem to believe me. He said it was nothing to worry about. He insisted she was just a normal girl like everyone else. He said there was nothing to be afraid of, but any normal person would be afraid of her." She shook her head, marvelling at the foolishness of grownups.

Harry said nothing, but a thought began to grow in his mind. In an instant, he knew why Professor Mason he fought so very hard to keep him in Slytherin, at least for a few months. He had thought that it was because of his power, but that wasn't the case at all. Any normal person would be afraid of her… that was what Courtney had said. Any normal person, but not Harry. He had told the professor the truth, that he wasn't afraid of Clytemnestra at all, he was just confused. At this point, it seemed that he was the only one.

Harry stood up suddenly, surprising both Sam and Courtney, who watched in wonder as he walked directly to where Clytemnestra was sitting and sat down in the chair beside her.

"Hi," Harry said to Clytemnestra, who took no notice of his approach. She didn't say anything in response or acknowledge him in any way. Harry wasn't surprised, he had known what to expect. There was no way he was going to give up that easily. "It's a nice view from here, isn't it?" He prompted, gesturing to the lake. He meant it, the view was unlike anything he had ever seen. He was completely surrounded by water, and it was as if he was just sitting out there in the middle of the water. He was never going to sit anywhere else in the common room ever again. Clytemnestra, naturally, ignored his excitement and didn't respond.

"I'm Harry, by way," Harry said smiling over at her. "You probably know that, but I never actually introduced myself. Sorry about that." At last she looked at him, her large blue eyes standing out in sharp contrast to the green light all around them.

"Do you want something?" Clytemnestra asked in her quiet little voice that Harry had only ever heard a handful of times.

"I, I just wanted to say hello," Harry said, losing a bit of steam. What the hoping to accomplish here?

"And if I say hello, you'll leave?" Clytemnestra asked, holding his gaze longer than she ever had before. Even so, her eyes still looked completely dead.

"I guess," Harry said hesitantly.

"Hello," Clytemnestra said, "now leave me alone." With that, her eyes slid away from him, looking back at the lake. Harry sat there for about half a second before deciding it was best to just try again later.

"Alright, goodnight, Clytemnestra," Harry said miserably, getting to his feet. She looked at him again for a fraction of a second, and he thought he saw a glimmer of something there. But maybe he had just imagined it, or maybe it was a trick of the green light. Whatever the case, she didn't say a thing as he walked up to his dormitory alone. J.B. was already up there, but the boy didn't say anything to him as Harry got into bed. He wondered, vaguely, how long J.B. would stay mad at him. Not that there was anything he could about it, not if he was mad at Harry for being friends with Gryffindors.

Harry tried his best to stay positive as he fell asleep, but it wasn't easy. Honestly, the conversation with Clytemnestra had gone about as well as he could have expected. Still though, he hadn't gotten through to her at all. He was now convinced that she was suffering in loneliness the same way he'd suffered all week. He was the only one who could reach out to her, mostly because he was the only one willing to try. Every interaction he'd had with her told him that she wasn't the monster everyone made her out to be. She needed his help, and he wasn't going to give up no matter what she said or did. After all, that was what Rose had taught him. Promising himself he'd try again tomorrow, Harry drifted off to sleep.

He didn't sleep for very long.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 Where There's Smoke

It was the shouting that woke Harry up. Of course, it was the shouting that woke everyone up... everyone that is except the people who started the shouting. Once they were awake, most people added their own voices to the shouting, and so by the time Harry was jolted awake who had started the shouting and why weren't immediately clear. Everything was in chaos, and Harry followed Scorpius as the other boy stumbled out of bed and went to find out who was shouting and why. Harry wasn't fully awake at that point, and he mostly just wanted to tell everyone to be quiet so he could go back to bed. That didn't last long, for soon after the boys exited their dormitory there was no longer any need to guess why everyone was shouting.

The Slytherin dormitories were a series of rooms honeycombing the far side of the dungeon, slightly raised above the rest of the common room and accessible by a staircase. The girls' dormitories were on the left, while the boys' dormitories were on the right. Once you climbed the right hand staircase up from the common room below, there was a long passage with three separate doors leading to three separate boys' dormitories, each complete with their own bathroom. At the back of the passage was a spiral staircase that led up to higher levels. Harry had never been up there, since his year's dormitory was the middle room on the first floor, but he figured there had to be at least two other floors, or else there wouldn't be enough room for each year to have their own dormitory. Harry followed Scorpius as the boy opened the middle door and shuffled half-asleep to the end of the passage where they could get a clear view of the common room below them. A few other confused Slytherins exited the rooms beside them or stumbled down the spiral staircase behind them, but Harry paid them no mind. At first it was because he was too tired, but when he exited the passageway and got a clear view of the common room it was because he just didn't care about them anymore. There were far more important things to worry about.

The staircases leading to the boy's and girl's dormitories were right next to each other, going parallel for a while before the boy's staircase turned at a right angle to the right and continued on and the girl's staircase turned at a right angle to the left. That meant that as Harry and Scorpius exited the passage way that led to their dormitory, they had a clear view of the passageway leading to the girl's dormitories, for it was directly in front of them on the other side of the dungeon. There was no reason to ask anyone why they were shouting, pointing, and talking back and forth unceasingly, the reason was clear as day. One of the girl's dormitories was on fire.

Scorpius gasped and hurried down the stairs to try and figure out from someone what had happened. Harry didn't follow him. In fact, he didn't move at all. Instead he searched with the crowd below him with his eyes, hoping against hope that what he thought was happening wasn't what was actually happening. Then he saw Courtney and Sam talking urgently to a circle of older looking students, including Atalanta, Liam Reese and the other prefects. Clytemnestra was nowhere to be seen. Harry knew what that meant. Without worry about whether or not it was a good idea. Harry sprinted down the staircase and climbed onto the railing at the point where the staircase turned sharply. Before anyone could notice him and tell him not to do it, Harry jumped the narrow gap between the boys' staircase to the girls' staircase.

Harry landed heavily, but he didn't care. He got to his feet and started to run up to the girl's dormitory as fast as he could. He only made it halfway there, though, before the staircase began to whistle loudly and without warning the steps melted away, turning the staircase into a large, slippery slide. Before Harry could do anything, he lost balance and slid painfully all the way down to the bottom.

"Wiggins, what are you doing?" Demanded Liam Reese as the group of prefects advanced on him. "Boys can't go up to the girl's dormitories. Why the hell were you trying to get up there anyways?" They all looked either confused or angry, except for Atalanta. Atalanta's expression, as usual, was unreadable.

"The Lestrange girl has gone crazy," Sam said, coming forward to help Harry to his feet. "She was asleep like normal, and then suddenly she just started screaming. She must have used some kind of magic, because before I knew it her whole bed was on fire. Half the room was on fire by the time Courtney and I got out of there. She went to go get Professor Mason so that he can stop her, somehow."

"Did you try to help her?" Harry asked in a quiet voice.

"W-what?" Sam asked, staring at him, not understanding.

"Did you try to help her out of the flames?" Harry repeated, his voice hard. He was so angry, not at Sam necessarily, but at the whole world; at everything that made it ok for no one to care what happened to the girl screaming alone in the burning room above them. People were scared, sure, but not for Clytemnestra. If she died right now, no one would actually care all that much. No one but Harry. He shrugged off Samantha's arm and turned back to the slide, trying to find out a way to get up to the dormitory. Nothing came to mind.

No one said anything to him as he clenched his fists in frustration, desperately trying to think of a way to help. That girl had saved him from doing something terrible in his darkest hour, but he hadn't been able to help her at all when she had needed it. He barely knew her, of course, but that hardly mattered. He had to do something, not just because he owed her but also because no one else was going to. They had all run from her as if she were a monster. Watching the smoke pouring of the dormitory above, it was hard to blame them.

"So what are you going to do when you get up there?" Atalanta asked quietly, and he turned to see that she was the only one standing nearby. The others had all moved further... or maybe Atalanta had ordered them to go away.

"I don't know, but I'll save her somehow. There has to be a way to get her out of there before she..." Harry didn't want to say it, and he didn't want to think about anyone dying. He was young enough still that he had never experienced death. It was a concept that in many ways was too terrible for him to understand. Atalanta did understand what it meant, and she saw that he did not. For reasons that are entirely her own, she nodded and said, "Make it quick."

She drew her wand, and without uttering a word she waved it at him. There was a faint flash of green light and immediately he was hoisted into the air, dangling upside down from his ankle a few feet above the middle of the staircase. Harry tried not to panic, but it was hard to put his full faith in Atalanta. She had "helped" him too many times to think that her plan to get him up to the girl's dormitory was going to be painless. It would work, sure, Harry was certain of that, but he just hoped he would be able to walk after Atalanta was done with him.

Atalanta paused before moving slightly, like a Quidditch player lining up the perfect penalty shot. Moments later she silently waved her wand again, and released was a jet of blue light that stuck him and sent him flying backwards. The spell, whatever it was, didn't hurt at all, it just knocked him backwards. Atalanta's aim was perfect, and he landed a few feet inside the passage. Well, it would have been better if he hadn't slammed his head painfully against the far wall, causing his vision to blur and for him to have difficulty standing up. Still, Atalanta could hardly be blamed for that, since she (most likely) hadn't done it on purpose. She had done more than enough just getting Harry up here, and he wasn't going to waste precious time sitting on the ground wishing his head didn't hurt. Harry scrambled to his feet, and set off towards the spiral staircase at the far end of the passage. The fire was clearly coming from one of the floors above him, and he needed to get there as quickly as he could. He might already be too late.

Harry refused to think about that as he raced up the narrow spiral staircase, which did not whistle or turn into a slide, probably because any unwanted boys would be unlikely to make it past the first staircase. It turned out that he had been right, and that there were indeed three floors of dormitories. The fire was coming from the far end of the third floor, and Harry raced to the door as quickly as he could. The door was closed and very, very hot, and for the first time Harry hesitated, his hand hovering a few inches from the door. There was no way not be terrified with the prospect of entering a burning room, and for a moment a Harry couldn't bring himself to do it. Then he remembered the flash of her blue eyes, and thought back to the very first day he had been at Hogwarts. Right after he had been sorted in Slytherin, Harry had been utterly confused on the verge to crying. He had run off to find his sister, hoping she would make everything okay. For some reason, Clytemnestra had waited for him at the door of the Great Hall, so that he wouldn't have to walk down into the dungeons alone. Why had she done that? Harry still didn't know. Ignoring the burning heat of the door handle, Harry grasped it firmly and pushed the door, disregarding the searing pain. He was going to ask her why she had waited for him. She wasn't going to die without telling him why.

Harry stared into the room, but it was hard to see anything. There were flames everywhere... like every single object in the room was on fire. But the fire was strange and unnatural. It didn't seem to be consuming anything in the room, but it was definitely hot enough to burn. Harry considered just running into the room, since the things that were on fire didn't seem to be burning up, but decided against it. This strange fire might not be reducing everything to ash, but it was definitely not safe. As his eyes got accustomed to the heat and the brightness, Harry finally caught sight of Clytemnestra.

She was sitting with her knees tucked under her chin, with her arms covering her head as if something were about to hit her. Clytemnestra seemed to be whispering to herself quietly, but Harry couldn't hear what she was saying. She was wearing a plain black tee-shirt with no sleeves, and when Harry saw her arms he was stunned and horrified beyond words. She always wore long sleeved robes, all of them did, and Harry had never actually seen her arms before. They were covered with old cuts, burns and scars, some rather small and other much, much larger. Harry couldn't even conceive of how much pain someone with those scars must have endured.

"Clytemnestra, CLYTEMNESTRA!" Harry called, trying to get her attention from the doorway. She paid him no attention, as if she couldn't hear him at all. Harry looked at the flames again, then back at the scars covering the girl's arms. There was no way he was just going to give up now. He tried to take a step towards her, but he couldn't, the heat was too intense. There was no way to will himself to step into the flames, no matter how much he wanted to help her. Not knowing what else to do, he stayed by the doorway and tried to call her name.

Clytemnestra was not the easiest name to yell, and Harry got a little bit tongue tied. If her name had been Cassy or Rose or Sam, he could have shouted it all day, but Clytemnestra was a different story. A sudden thought hit him, and he stopped yelling. She couldn't hear him anyways, so he might as well give her a nickname that he could shout more easily. What should her nickname be though... Nessa? Temmy?

"Cleo!" called Harry, and to his surprise the girl suddenly looked up.

"Auntie, Auntie is that you?" she called, her voice pitiful and weak. There were tears streaming down her face, and she was shaking badly. As she looked at him, the flames by the door flickered and died, leaving only the fire on her half of the room.

"It's me, Harry," Harry said, taking a step into the room.

"Harry..." she repeated, her voice changing tone in a way he couldn't describe as she turned to look at him. Harry saw to his astonishment that she wasn't actually awake. Her eyes were fixed in a sort of trance, looking at him without seeing. "I don't know anyone named Harry. Leave."

With that the flames sprang suddenly to life, filling the room in an instant. Harry had to leap out of the room suddenly, and even then he didn't completely escape being burned. Clearly this fire was meant to burn people, just not things. This magic was meant as some sort of defence mechanism. It hurt... a lot... but Harry refused to think about it or even notice it. He couldn't help her at all if he got distracted now. But what should he do?

"Cleo!" Harry called again, not knowing what else to do. He was surprised when the flames by the door died again. Harry hesitated only for a moment before walking back into the room. If he had wanted to give up, he would have done it before now. Clytemnestra sat on the bed, watching him with her unnerving trance eyes.

"Why do you call me that?" She asked, her voice suspicious. "No one calls me that but Auntie. Only she knows that I like that name better." She paused, considering him carefully. It didn't look like she could actually see him, but she could tell that he was there. "Did she send you here, or is this some sort of trap?"

"No, this isn't a trap, Cleo," Harry said quickly, for it looked like she might send fire at him again. Now that he knew that she preferred that name, he was going to call her that all the time. "I, I want to help you, Cleo."

"Help me," repeated Cleo using the same odd tone. Harry didn't know what was going on, but he was relieved that she was at least considering the words. "Why would you want to help me?"

Harry didn't respond at once, because he couldn't think of a reason. He would help anyone who clearly needed it as much as Cleo did. It would never occur to him not to.

"This is a trap, isn't it?" Cleo said, her voice shaking. The whole room did not fill with fire, but the flames around her grew larger. "My mother is tricking me again, punishing me for being so weak!" Her voice was hysterical, and the flames around her danced wildly.

"No, Cleo, it's not..."

"I'm sorry, mother," Cleo whimpered, her voice changing abruptly as she curled into a ball. All around the room the flames died, leaving nothing but the fire blazing around her bed. "I'll try harder. Just please don't..."

Harry walked over to her bed and watched her sob, whispering apologies to someone who couldn't possibly hear her. He felt so sick that it was all he could do not to throw up. But in truth, Harry didn't even full understand what she was saying, for he was too young to grasp the full magnitude of what her words meant. Still, it was impossible for him not to be moved by her helplessness, not to cry at the depths of her pain. Harry crouched as close to the edge of her bed as he could and, tears streaming down his face, called her name again.

"Cleo."

She looked at him again. "You... you're still here," she said, seeming very confused. "You're not supposed to still be here."

"Why wouldn't I be here?" Harry asked quietly.

"They... the dreams don't ever last this..." Cleo looked around vaguely, clearly confused. Without warning she collapsed onto her bed, eyes closed. The flames around her died, and without hesitating Harry raced to her side. He was relieved to see that she was still breathing. In fact, she seemed to be sound asleep.

She woke up suddenly as he reached her, and this time she was truly awake. She blinked a few times, and looked at him in confusion. "Harry," she said quietly, looking away from him quickly. "You, you aren't supposed to be here. What are you..." She stopped suddenly, catching sight of his burned arms. Harry was still forcing himself not to think of how much they hurt, but they probably looked really bad. Her eyes widened, and she turned to look at him, tears forming suddenly.

"It wasn't a dream, was it?" She whispered in the tiniest of voices, already knowing the answer. "That means that I..." She stopped speaking, breaking down into sobs. Harry didn't say anything as she cried, he just held her close as she clutched his left arm painfully and cried every tear she had. He didn't feel awkward or anything, but that was probably because she clearly needed someone to be there for her. Honestly, at the time he was just happy that she was alright.

That was how the professors found them, Cleo clutching Harry's arm tightly and crying seemingly without end. She did stop, though, when the professors gathered around her bed ominously. Harry looked at them in confusion, wondering why they looked so angry. After all, everything was fine now, no one had gotten hurt. His own burns were irrelevant, and he looked at his right arm in mild interest, as if surprised that it was so badly burned. But all the heads of all four houses were there, as well as Hagrid and Madame Abbott and another teacher that Harry didn't know. He wondered, at first, why so many of them were here. He didn't need to wonder for long.

"Clytemnestra Lestrange," Professor Evergreen said, no hint of friendliness in his tone. "Please come with us to the headmistress's office so that we may handle the matter of your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Expulsion?" Harry asked, not understand. Cleo hadn't done anything wrong, at least not anything that she had any control over. And she had only lost control because of something truly terrible in her past, and she couldn't be held responsible for that. In fact, it was everyone else's fault for ignoring the difficulties she had been facing. This just wasn't fair.

Cleo, though, just nodded. She clearly had known what was coming. "Was anyone hurt?" she asked in a quietly voice, her eyes fixed on the floor.

"Other than Mr. Wiggins here, everyone seems to have escaped injury," Professor Clearwater said, nodding to Harry. Madam Abbott rushed forward to check on him, but Harry brushed her aside.

"Wait a minute, you can't do this," Harry said angrily, glaring at all of them. "Cleo didn't do anything wrong!"

The Professors looked at him in surprise, but none of them seemed to take him words seriously. "Harry, I don't think you understand..." Professor Evergreen tried to say, but Harry wasn't hearing it.

"No, you don't understand, none of you do!" Shouted Harry, getting to his feet. "You weren't here! You didn't hear her when..." He stopped, for Cleo had reached out and grabbed a hold of his hand, giving it a little squeeze. He stared at her in surprise and stopped talking.

"It's alright, Harry," she said quietly. Without another word she went over to Professor Evergreen, who took a nervous step away from her as she approached him. Cleo paused, stayed where she was, and offered her wand to him from a distance. The Professor took it reluctantly, stowing it in his robes.

"Let's go," Professor Dimock said, her voice lacking its usual cheer. "The others are waiting."

"Just a sec,'" Hagrid said, watching Cleo closely. "I think the girl wants ter say somthin'."

Cleo turned to Harry, who was being fussed over by Madame Abbott again. She watched him for a second before saying, "Thank you for wanting to help me, Harry."

"Halo," replied Harry, too numb to form complete sentences.

"What?" Cleo asked quietly, cocking her head to one side quizzically.

"Call me Halo. My friends call me Halo."

There was no way Harry could have known how much those words meant to her, but that was probably why he said them. He always a sense about those kinds of things. Cleo smiled one of her very, very rare smiles and said, "Goodbye, Halo."

Surrounded by the Hogwarts Professors, Cleo walked away without another word.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 Two to One

Madame Abbott tried to get Harry to go to the hospital wing, but he was in no mood to listen to her. As soon as Cleo left, Harry's will crystallized in the singular desire to go with her. Someone had to speak in her defence, someone had to let everyone know that what happened wasn't her fault. Since no one else seemed to know or care enough about Cleo to help her, it had to be him. So Harry ignored the healer completely, which irritated her greatly, and set off towards the headmistress's study without a word.

Harry didn't make it very far, for as he sped down the hall his limbs suddenly froze and he found himself unable to move. "Honestly!" Madame Abbott said as she came to stand beside him, wand in hand. "I never had to jinx a student before. Now you're coming to the hospital wing with me, no ifs, ands, or buts."

She lifted her spell, and Harry nodded dully, knowing he had no choice. If he tried to run, she would just jinx him again. He wondered if it was against the rules or something to use magic on students like that. It had to be. Madame Abbott smiled, as if reading his mind, and said, "The school healer is allowed to use any means they have to in order to treat their patients. In this case, it's the only way to get you to listen, isn't it, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry said with clenched teeth, his glare leaving no doubt about how he felt about the stupid healer and her stupid delay. He was perfectly fine, it's not like he was going to die from a few burns.

"You are a stubborn one, aren't you?" Madame Abbott said, shaking her head ruefully. "You could give Harry a run for his money when it comes to being a reckless fool, and I don't mean that as a compliment."

It took Harry a second to figure out who she was talking about. "You know Harry Potter?" He said, staring at her in spite of himself. Harry couldn't help getting excited. He was still a little kid, after all, and Harry Potter had always been his hero.

"Everyone knows Harry Potter," Madam Abbott said evasively. Harry continued to look at her expectantly, and at length she said, "We were in the same year at Hogwarts, although we weren't in the same House. I was in Hufflepuff, and didn't really see much of him and the others until our fifth year when Harry and Hermione decided to form Dumb-" She stopped, wondering why she was telling the boy all this. There was something about his pleading eyes, something unnaturally compelling. She scowled at him and said, "That doesn't matter right now, we need to get you to the hospital wing and make sure you're alright. Now get moving, mister."

Harry nodded, deciding that she was right. He loved to hear stories about Harry Potter and his other heroes as much as anything, but that could wait. Right now he needed to get to the hospital wing quickly so that she would release him and he could go to the headmistress's office and help Cleo. He just hoped that he had enough time.

Harry hurried to the hospital wing as quickly as he could, and Madame Abbott had to struggle to keep up. She was not an old woman, only 36, but even so she could not match the frantic speed of youth. When they arrived, Harry begged and pleaded her to examine him and treat his burns as quickly as possible so that he would be free to go. And while she examined him, all he did was fidget impatiently and worry about Cleo.

"You have several burns on your hands, arms and legs, including a severe one on your right palm. You also suffered a concussion, no doubt by doing something incredibly reckless," Madame Abbott said, clucking in disapproval.

"Well, that one wasn't my fault," Harry said, smiling fiendishly and thinking of Atalanta's strange and often painful definition of help. The healer didn't approve of his tone, and glowered at him until he assumed an appropriately subdued demeanour. Satisfied, she immediately began applying a healing salve which would help treat his burns. The salve made the burns very itchy, and as she wrapped each of the burns with bandages she made Harry promise not to scratch them. Not that it mattered, of course, she knew he was going to scratch them anyways. Children always scratched.

Just as she finished wrapping his right hand, Professor Longbottom came rushing him, his round face fearful. "Hannah, what's happening? I heard that the girl..."

The Professor stopped speaking as he saw Harry, who was covered with a number of bandages. He looked like half a mummy, which Harry thought was a little excessive. After all, the burns hadn't hurt very much. Everyone was clearly overreacting because it was Clytemnestra.

"Neville," Madame Abbott said, hurrying over to give the Professor a big hug. Harry figured they were probably married, which actually made sense once he thought back on her earlier conversation with Hermione. She kissed him lightly on the cheek which confirmed it for Harry and then the two had a quiet, hurried conversation that probably covered the gist of what had happened that night.

"Harry, are you alright? She didn't do anything to you, did she?" Professor Longbottom said, coming to stand beside the bed that Harry was sitting on.

"No, no of course not," Harry said, glaring at the Professor in annoyance. Why did everyone assume Cleo had tried to hurt him? That wasn't what had happened at all.

"Good, that's good." The Professor seemed preoccupied, so preoccupied that he didn't comment on Harry rudely forgetting to address him as sir. "You probably should spend the night here at the very least. Don't worry, my wife will make sure you make a full recovery."

"I can't stay here, sir. I need to see the headmistress right away," Harry said, jumping off the bed and walking up to the healer. "I'm fine now, right? You have to let me go."

The two adults exchanged confused looks, not understanding. Why didn't anyone try to understand? "Harry, the headmistress is very busy, so she won't be able to see you tonight. Formal expulsion takes a rather long time to-" Professor Longbottom started to say.

"Cleo is not getting expelled, sir," Harry said, clenching his fists. It was very painful, on account of his burns, but he didn't even notice. "I'm going to stop it."

Professor Longbottom knelt in front of Harry, looking straight into his eyes. "There's nothing you can do for that girl. She had her chance, and she failed to control her powers. I was against letting her come in the first place, but now that she has injured another student there's no way she will be allowed to stay. Trust me, Harry, this is for the best."

"Why do you hate her?" Harry asked boldly, forgetting his manners again in his anger. The Professor, again, did not comment on his rudeness.

"I do not hate her," Professor Longbottom said, "but her mother was the most dangerous, evil witch of her age. It would be foolish to underestimate what the girl is capable of." The Professor's normally warm, good-natured face had a dark look of hatred on it. Harry finally understood at least a little of what the Professor was dealing with ever time he looked at the girl. Bellatrix Lestrange must have done something terrible to Professor Longbottom or his family. Still, that wasn't Cleo's fault.

"It just isn't fair for you to hold her responsible for something she didn't do," Harry said. "That's what everyone is doing, and not one of them knows a single thing about her. That's why I have to go make them listen. What happened tonight was an accident, and everyone ended up all right." Harry paused before adding recklessly, "Plus, I think she might have more cause to hate her mother than you do."

Madame Abbott gasped, for she knew what those words meant better than the boy who spoke them. Professor Longbottom showed neither shock nor anger. Instead he tonelessly said, "I rather doubt it."

Harry knew immediately that he had crossed a line, and felt ashamed. He had done it again, said something hurtful to someone who he hadn't intended to hurt. He had no idea what to say, and dropped his eyes guiltily.

"You know the way to the headmistress's office, don't you?" Professor Longbottom asked quietly, and Harry looked up in surprise. He had an unreadable expression on his round face. Not really understanding what was going on, Harry nodded.

"Then you might want to hurry if you want to get there before they expel the girl."

Harry stared that the Professor for a moment, before nodding again and rushing out of the hospital wing as quickly as he could. Hannah Abbott watched the boy leave, confused by her husband's decision.

"Neville, why did you let him go?"

"Does he remind you of anyone that we knew at his age?"

"You noticed that too? There must be something about people named Harry."

"There's your answer, Hannah."

"You let him go because he reminded you of Harry?"

"That's right."

"But Neville that's silly! He's clearly wrong about the girl, you know it as well as I do. She's obviously dangerous, and there's just no way she can be trusted. Everyone knows that..." Hannah stopped, suddenly understanding. "Oh."

"Exactly. Harry was never wrong. Even when the world was doubting him and all the evidence was against him, he was never wrong."

"You have that much faith in the boy, just from that?"

Neville didn't reply to that, there was no need for him to. The answer was obvious.

Meanwhile Harry raced to the headmistress's office, hoping it wasn't too late. His burns itched really badly, and so he scratched him absent-mindedly as he ran. At last he reached the gargoyle that stood before the staircase leading to the headmistress's office, and without slowing he said, "Fanged Geranium."

The Gargoyle didn't spring aside. Instead it just sat there and shook its stone head at him. Harry skidded to a halt in front of the gargoyle, staring at it in disbelief. "F-fanged Geranium," repeated Harry, but again the gargoyle didn't move.

Harry was at a complete loss of what to do. He was so close, but there seemed to be no way to reach Cleo or help her now. Overcome with frustration, Harry drew his wand and pointed it at the gargoyle saying, "Move."

But the gargoyle did not move, instead it continued to shake its head back and forth as if laughing. Harry raised his wand, feeling that same reckless feeling he'd felt that night in the Slytherin common room when Cleo had stopped him from hurting someone. But the only thing he could hurt now was a stupid, obnoxious statue. He was fine with that.

"Probably shouldn't do that, mate, although believe me I understand your desire to blast the damn thing to bits," someone said behind him, a voice that was somewhat familiar. Harry turned around and nearly fell over, for walking down the corridor towards him were Hermione and Ron Weasley, the Minister of Magic, the grumpy old man who had been present when Cleo had been taken into the great hall for sorting, and several other Ministry official. Harry didn't pay much attention to them, though; he was focused on the man in front who had spoken to him. The man stopped in front of Harry and smiled down at him, his glasses catching the light of the torches around him and revealing startlingly familiar green eyes.

"You must be Harry Wiggins," the man said, reaching out his hand, "I've heard a lot about you. My name is Harry Potter."

Harry nodded stupidly, unable to move his body enough to shake Mr. Potter's hand. Before the silence stretched on for too long, Hermione came hurrying forward and said, "Harry, what are you doing here? Why are you all covered with bandages?" She gasped, "Don't tell me that you're the one that the Lestrange girl attacked."

"Attacked?" Harry asked, shocked into speech, "She didn't attack anyone."

"Then how do you explain those injuries, young man?" The grumpy old man beside Minister Shacklebolt demanded. Harry decided that he really didn't like the man very much.

"It was an accident," Harry said, figuring that he probably shouldn't say too much. He knew that Cleo hadn't meant to hurt anyone, but no one else seemed to think that was the case. Still, he couldn't lie directly, because that wouldn't help her very much in the long run.

"So you say," the grumpy man said with a sneer. Harry wondered what his name was, probably something like Grumpington Sourpuss. "The headmistress is waiting for us. This little boy should be in bed, it is well past curfew."

Harry's spirits plummeted as the other Ministry officials nodded, including the Minister of Magic himself. Hermione said nothing, but the look on her face plainly indicated that she thought he should get some rest. Mr. Potter said nothing, he just patted the boy reassuringly on the shoulder and turned to face the gargoyle. They all walked past him, leaving him alone in the middle of the corridor. Harry had no idea what to do, but right then someone spoke.

"Hold up," Ron Weasley said, catching everyone by surprise. "The lad's a witness, isn't he? He ought to be able to tell his version of what happened at the expulsion hearing."

"Hearing? There's no hearing," Grumpington Sourpuss said, frowning at Ron. "We as simply here decide if she is sent home or locked up in Azkaban. If I had my way..."

"Nobody much cares what would happen if you had your way, Scrimgeour," Ron snapped angrily.

"Ron!" Hermione said, scandalized. No one else spoke, although it seemed to Harry that Mr. Potter was smiling faintly.

"Don't forget, Weasley, that you are here as a courtesy," Scrimgeour said angrily. "You are no longer an Auror, and have no reason to be here other than your connection to more famous and talented friends. We don't have much need for shopkeepers."

"That is uncalled for, Cassius," Minister Shacklebolt said in his deep, calm voice. "Mr. Weasley is here for legal reason, as his last act as a member of the Ministry was to assume legal responsibility for the child in question. And furthermore he is quite right, it would be improper to exclude the sole witness from the proceedings. Come along, Mr. Wiggins."

The Minister put a large, reassuring arm on Harry's back and led him along as they all made their way up to the Headmistress's study. They walked right behind Ron Weasley and Cassius Scrimgeour, who were continuing their argument quietly.

"There will be no way to protect that freak this time. She is going to be locked up where she belongs," Scrimgeour said venomously.

"Does it make you feel better to punish children for crimes they didn't commit?" Ron shot back quietly, his face very red.

"Bellatrix Lestrange killed my father, torturing him for hours before he died because he refused to tell her where you and your friends were hiding. Have you forgotten all the people who died to make you a hero?"

Ron looked he was about to punch the man, and Harry wondered why the Minister didn't put a stop to this. There was no way that Minister Shacklebolt couldn't hear them.

"Bellatrix Lestrange is dead," Ron said quietly, controlling himself with great effort. "Torturing her daughter won't change what happened to your father. Plus, I can assure you that there's nothing you can do to Clytemnestra that is worse than what her mother already did to her." Without another word, Ron sped up and climbed the staircase to the headmistress's office.

Harry and the Minister entered last, but they didn't miss anything, since everyone seemed to be waiting for the Minister to arrive before beginning. Apart from the delegation from the Ministry, the only other people in the study were the heads of the four houses, the headmistress, Hagrid and Clytemnestra. The teachers all looked surprised to see Harry, except for Hagrid, who nodded at him and winked. Hagrid looked like he would have been more surprised if Harry hadn't come. Cleo was curled up in a chair by the desk, and when Harry entered her eyes immediately found him, sparkling with just the faintest flicker of light. He gave her a reassuring smile, trying to let her know that it would all be alright. She showed no reaction, but did not look away. Her eyes remained fixed on him the entire time.

"So, the Ministry is finally here," Professor Mason said discourteously. "Are we allowed to start yet, or do we need to wait for written approval?"

Most of the Ministry officials glared at him, but none of the other Professors said a word. It was plain on most of their faces that they very much agreed with his words, even if they were too polite to say anything. Hogwarts teacher had never approved of Ministry meddling. The Minister spread his hands and said apologetically, "I am sorry that we have to get involved in this matter, but as you know Ms. Lestrange is a unique case. It would irresponsible for us to simply ignore the matter."

"Yes, Minister, I read your letter when you demanded to be present for this hearing," Headmistress Sprout said irritably.

"It was hardly a demand, Pomona," Minister Shacklebolt said, his tone remaining apologetically. "And we are thankful that you honoured our request. The Ministry is in your debt."

Headmistress Sprout sniffed dismissively, as if she couldn't care less about such thing, and made her way to Harry Potter, ignoring everyone else. The two of them whispered back and forth very quietly, and Mr. Potter frowned slightly as he glanced over at Cleo. Everyone in the room stood watching them awkwardly, unsure of what they should be doing. There was no way they could ask the headmistress to hurry up, given that she was in charge, but this secret conversation was hardly proper. Harry could tell it bothered many of the Ministry officials, especially Cassius Scrimgeour. Mr. Potter and Professor Sprout took no notice of the others' disapproval, continuing their quiet conversation. At last Mr. Potter shrugged and nodded, looking less than pleased, and the headmistress turned to address the others.

"We have decided to review the evidence against Miss Clytemnestra Lestrange before we get to the matter of her expulsion. It would be improper to make a decision without hearing from all the witnesses. Normally, as headmistress I would be the one to review the matter alone, but since the Ministry has insisted on being involved I will make accommodations. I will allow Mr. Harry Potter, who is the head Auror and has personal experience with the student in question, to hear the evidence. Mrs. Hermione Weasley, who has been appointed by the Ministry as the person in charge of monitoring the witness, Harry Lawrence Wiggins, will be allowed to hear the evidence as well." Harry Wiggins stared at her in surprise. No one had mentioned a thing to him, but they had already made their decision. What was going on?

"As a courtesy," continued Professor Sprout, "I will allow Mr. Potter to choose one other person to witness the evidence. This is my offer, Minister, do you find it acceptable?"

"Harry, who do you choose as the third member?" the Minister asked, clasping his hands in front of him and regarding Mr. Potter calmly.

"Potter," Scrimgeour interjected forcefully, "I demand that..."

"Ron," Mr. Potter said, ignoring Mr. Scrimgeour.

"Weasley isn't even a member of the Ministry!" One of the junior members of the Ministry muttered in protest. Scrimgeour looked furious, turning to Minister Shacklebolt as if expecting him to refuse. The Minister said nothing for a time, watching the Mr. Potter and the headmistress closely.

"Very well," The Minister said at last, drawing cries of disbelief from the other Ministry officials. "We will wait in the staff room for you to examine the evidence."

"I demand that the girl go as well. If she stays here, Potter and his cronies can come up with some story to help her escape justice," growled Scrimgeour.

"You don't have the right to demand anything, Cassius," Professor Clearwater said angrily.

"Naturally the girl will not be present," Mr. Potter said. "She will be waiting with the rest of you."

"S-she will be?" Scrimgeour asked, taken aback. Harry was furious, what was Mr. Potter thinking, sending Cleo away with these people? It was clear from the looks that everyone was giving her that they feared and hated her. Cleo ignored them all, though, keeping her eyes on Harry. He gave her another smile, trying to reassure her that everything would be all right. Again, she didn't react to his smile at all, she just kept looking at him as if he were the only one in the room.

"I'm sure this many Aurors can handle a little girl," Ron said scathingly. Mr. Potter smiled again, but said nothing. Hermione seemed torn between approving of her husband's words and wishing he wasn't speaking. Harry figured she must feel that way a lot.

"Well, this way, please," Professor Evergreen said, nodding to the Minister courteously. The professor clearly didn't approve of the situation, but it was hardly his place to argue. One by one, the others shuffled out, leaving just Mr. Potter, Ron, Hermione, Headmistress Sprout, Harry, Cleo, Cassius Scrimgeour and Professor Mason. Scrimgeour took his time leaving, looking like a man who had come so close to victory only to see it snatched away at the last second.

"I'll remember this," Scrimgeour said quietly before storming out of the room.

"You do that," Harry heard Ron mutter as the angry old man left.

Professor Mason looked at Mr. Potter with an impassive look, and Harry Wiggins had no way of knowing what he was thinking. "So the hero has come to save the day yet again. I find your lack of regard for the rules admirable."

"Glad to hear it, Mason," Mr. Potter replied indifferently. "I'm sure we agree that it's more important to be right than to follow the rules."

"Oh, of course," Professor Mason said smoothly. "It is a good thing that the difference between right and wrong is always so clear. The world would be such a messy place otherwise."

Harry Wiggins was a little young to have a firm grasp on sarcasm, but the others understood perfectly. Ron scowled at the professor and said, "Just leave already, will you?"

Professor Mason smiled slightly and went over to Clytemnestra, kneeling before her while keeping a safe distance. "It's time to go, Ms. Lestrange." Cleo turned to him and nodded, dropping her eyes to the ground as she got up to follow him. No one spoke as she crossed the room, but as she passed Ron she turned in his direction and, staring at his shoes, said, "I'm sorry. I messed up. I didn't mean to."

"I know, kiddo," Ron said, reaching out and giving her something that he had been holding in his hand.

"I'm not hungry," Cleo muttered, not looking at it. Clearly, though, she knew what it was.

"You're never hungry, but chocolate is good for you, so eat up," Ron said, blinking his eyes rapidly. There was something about his tone that Harry found curious, a certain warmth and concern that he hadn't expected to hear. Cleo gave a little nod, and followed Professor Mason out without another word.

No one spoke as Harry looked around, wondering what was going to happen now. Why had the headmistress ensured it so that only these three would remain behind to talk to him? Was it so that they could find a way not to expel Cleo? It certainly seemed like it, given how everyone was acting. What did they want from him, should he tell them what had happened? No one was looking at him, but Harry figured he should talk so he opened his mouth to say something. Then he noticed the tension. Harry Potter and Ron were staring in opposite directions, plainly looking away from each other while Hermione glanced back and forth between the two of them nervously. Harry decided to shut his mouth and wait. At last, Headmistress Sprout sat back in her chair and sighed.

"I never wanted this job you know," she said, looking up at the wall above her. It was covered with a number of sleeping portraits, but Harry had never even glanced at them before. There was nothing interesting about a bunch of sleeping old people, and every time he had been in this office there had been more important things to worry about. Harry wondered if it was bad that he had already been here three times in his first month. Well, it probably wasn't good.

"No, I never wanted to be headmistress," repeated Professor Sprout with a sigh. "When Minerva took the job, I told her she was crazy. And when she told me that she was retiring and that the governors wanted to appoint me headmistress I laughed at her, thinking she was joking. I should have known better. McGonagall never joked."

"You've done a great job, Professor Sprout," Hermione said soothingly, but the two men were silent. Hermione glared viciously at her husband until he added, "Uh, yeah, a great job."

"Let's not kid ourselves, I'm no Dumbledore," Professor Sprout said with a chuckle. She stared up at a portrait of a very old man snoozing contently against the edge of his frame, his half-moon spectacles slipping down the edge of his long crooked nose. Harry didn't know who that man was. He should have. "In fact, the governors told me that I was only appointed because I was the only one of the old guard left. Flitwick and McGonagall retired, and their replacements were too young. It has been centuries since a Headmaster was appointed who hadn't first been the head of a house. Sometimes, though, I wonder if they shouldn't have just gone ahead and appointed Elmander as headmaster."

"Evergreen is a little young," Hermione said, seeming alarmed by this conversation.

"And I am a little old, Hermione," Professor Sprout said, shaking her head. "I want to be out in my garden, not deciding a little girl's future. Well there you have it, the honest truth. I'll leave the fate of the girl to you."

Hermione gasped, and Mr. Potter and Ron both stared at the headmistress in shock. Harry heard someone mutter unflattering things behind him, and he turned around in surprise. There was no one there, just the portrait of a clever looking man with a pointed black beard. The portrait was obviously asleep though, so it couldn't have been him. Harry looked around in confusion, wondering what was going on. Weren't they going to ask him what happened?

"You... you're sure?" Hermione asked in a small voice. "I mean we aren't even teachers..."

"I am." Professor Sprout's voice was firm. "You three have always shown tremendous judgement and have earned my respect and trust many times over. Plus, you were there when she was found. You know what she is capable of as well as anyone. The decision is yours. What should be done with her?"

Ron Weasley and Harry Potter looked at each other briefly. Hermione looked straight down, saying nothing. After a long pause, the three of them spoke at the same time.

"Let her stay," said Ron Weasley.

"Expel her," said Harry Potter.

"E-expel her," said Hermione Weasley.

There was a moment of silence. Then Harry Wiggins screamed in frustration.

"WHAT?"


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 Little Problems

At first Harry wasn't actually sure what he was shouting, but he soon realized that he was telling them what had happened that night, willing them to understand. How could Hermione Weasley and Harry Potter say that Cleo should be expelled over something she had no control over? It was unbelievable, not in the least because they were his two biggest heroes. For an eleven-year-old boy, having your hopes suddenly betrayed by someone like that was simply beyond belief.

Hermione hurried over and put her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. "Harry, why... why don't you start from the beginning, tell us exactly what happened. You're right, we shouldn't make our decision before we hear everything."

Harry shrugged her arm off angrily and began again, systematically telling them what had happened, including everything that Sam and Courtney had told him from earlier this evening. No one interrupted him as he spoke, and Ron and Harry Potter spent the entire time staring in opposite directions. Clearly, given how they had voted, they did not see eye to eye on the subject of Clytemnestra Lestrange.

"So it really was an accident," Hermione said quietly, her mind moving at top speed. Given who she was, that was saying something. "Still..."

"It doesn't matter. Accident or not, the girl isn't in full control of herself," Mr. Potter said, addressing his words to one of the portraits sleeping above him. Whatever reason Mr. Potter had for speaking to a sleeping painting of an old man with half-moon spectacles, it was not one that Harry understood. "This is exactly what I was afraid of."

"But no one was hurt!" Protested Harry Wiggins loudly. The adults turned to him sceptically and looked at his many bandages. "I-I'm fine, this is nothing," he muttered lamely. Harry could tell that they didn't believe him.

"Someone could easily have been killed," Mr. Potter said, rubbing his distinctive lightning scar absentmindedly. "And there's no way to ensure that this doesn't happen again. Her presence endangers the entire school. You know I'm right, Hermione."

"Yes… yes I know." Hermione said, but she looked utterly miserable. Clearly she was conflicted and unable to decide what the right thing to do was.

"The vote is two to one in favour of expulsion," Mr. Potter said to the headmistress, who had been watching them all silently. Harry stared at Mr. Potter in disbelief, unable to believe that someone he had admired so much—someone who had been his biggest hero—could be so wrong.

"I should have mentioned," Professor Sprout said calmly, "that the three of you must all agree one way or the other. The decision must be unanimous."

Harry Potter said nothing, instead he turned slowly to face Ron. There was no need for either of the men to guess what the other was thinking. They had been down this road before. Harry Wiggins watched it all unfold, unable to find the words he needed to make himself heard. Instead, he just listened.

"Haven't you had enough yet, Harry?"

"What do you mean?"

"How long you will keep wanting revenge for the things Bellatrix did? How badly do you want revenge for Sirius?"

"That isn't what this is about."

"You sure about that?"

"Damn it, Ron!" Harry Potter said, slamming his fist on the desk. "You know that isn't what this is! I wish that Bellatrix hadn't tortured the girl to insanity, that she hadn't made her into a weapon, but she did. What good will come out of pretending that she's just a normal girl when she isn't one?"

"She never had a chance to try," Ron said quietly.

"You were there, Ron, you remember what happened, don't you?"

"Of course I do, Harry, but that's not the whole story and you know it. That girl is not her mother."

"And she's not Rose."

"Harry!" Hermione said sharply, and for a moment it seemed that Harry Potter had gone too far. Ron pulled out his wand, his face contorted in anger. Hermione put herself between the two old friends, holding up her arms to stop them. The moment quickly passed, though, and they both seemed to come to their senses.

"Ron, I..." Mr. Potter said, clearly regretting his words.

"No, you're right," Ron said quietly, "I'll admit it, Harry. When I look at Clytemnestra I see my little girl. Is that really so surprising? They're exactly the same age, and they even have the same blue eyes. When I think about what would have happened if Rose had gone through what Clytemnestra went through..."

"I know," Harry Potter said quietly. "Believe me, I know. But that doesn't change what happened, it doesn't change that Bellatrix tortured her own daughter until she developed powers beyond her ability to control. I know Mrs. Tonks said that she was getting better at controlling it, but clearly it isn't enough. She is just too dangerous to be allowed to stay at this school, at least for the time being."

Ron nodded slightly, and it looked like he was about to change his vote. Harry Wiggins couldn't stand by any longer, he had to do something.

"But this isn't fair, it was just an accident!" Harry Wiggins repeated for the millionth time, wondering why no one was listening to him. Grownups only seemed to hear what they wanted to hear. He went to stand right in front of Mr. Potter so that he couldn't be ignored any longer. "It was not her fault."

"That may be true," Mr. Potter said, not meeting his gaze, "but it is only a matter of time. There's something wrong..."

"There's nothing wrong with Cleo, she just has a little problem!"

Those words had a powerful, profound effect on Harry Potter, but Harry Wiggins could not possibly have known that. Harry Potter closed his eyes for a long time, remembering a conversation that he had once had with an old friend of his who was long gone.

_"But you are normal!" Harry Potter had once said to Remus Lupin. "You've just got a— a problem—"_

_And Lupin had just burst out laughing._

_"Sometimes you remind me a lot of James," Lupin had said. "He called it my 'furry little problem' in company. Most people were under the impression that I owned a badly behaved rabbit."_

But Lupin had not had an evil bunny rabbit, rather he had been cursed as a werewolf since childhood. Every full moon he would lose all memory of who he was and would most likely attack whoever he came across, even his closest friends. In short, he was the kind of person who Harry Potter was trying to argue was too dangerous to be let into Hogwarts. When had he started thinking things like that?

"I'm wrong, aren't I?" Harry Potter asked the same sleeping portrait behind the Headmistress's desk, but the old man did not wake up and answer. Harry Potter didn't seem to need an answer, though, and he turned to look at the boy glaring up at him. Was that what he had been like at this age? This boy was really quite a handful.

"Harry Wiggins, do you think that the girl should be allowed to stay at this school?" Harry Potter asked.

"Yes," Harry replied instantly, "because she did nothing wrong. I don't think she's actually dangerous... or at least not as dangerous as everyone seems to think she is. I mean, I know Cleo would never intentionally hurt anyone."

"So you have faith in her?" Mr. Potter asked, studying him.

"Yes."

"Would you risk your life on that faith?" Mr. Potter's voice was very firm, and Harry couldn't help feeling a little bit afraid. He didn't understand very much of death, so his reply came easily. But even if he had known more, his reply would have been the same. That was just who he was.

"Yes."

Mr. Potter nodded to himself and seemed to make his decision.

"Harry, there's something I want you to see. After you've seen it, you'll truly understand what you're saying. Then, if you still believe in the girl, I'll change my vote. Her fate is in your hands now."

Harry Wiggins was shocked, unsure of what to say. Harry Potter was really going to trust him in this? Why had he suddenly changed his mind? Ron and Hermione also looked shocked, watching their friend apprehensively. They didn't quite understand what he was thinking, which, as they knew from prior experience, was not a good thing.

"Is it still in the same place?" Harry Potter asked, turning to face Professor Sprout. As he spoke, he raised his wand to his temple and drew out a long, white strand of... something. Professor Sprout nodded, and Mr. Potter made his way over to the cabinet on the far end of the room and removed a large, stone basin, placing it on a little nearby table.

"Harry," Hermione said, understanding what he had in mind. "He's a little young to..."

"It is his decision to make now," Mr. Potter said, interrupting her. "Harry needs to understand what happened and why." Hermione obviously wanted to argue with him, but she must have decided against it because she didn't say anything. Maybe she just knew it was a waste of time to try and get him to change his mind. Mr. Potter placed the strand of white stuff in the middle of the basin, and whatever was inside it began to swirl with jumbled images. Mr. Potter looked up again and said to Hermione, "Do you want to explain things, or should I?"

"I'll do it," Hermione said, glaring at him as if she had blackmailed him.

"I hate to ask this, but could you please excuse us?" Mr. Potter said to Professor Sprout, who blinked in surprise. Harry Wiggins thought there was almost no chance that she would agree to leave her own office, and he was shocked when the headmistress simply nodded and got up to leave. Harry turned to each of the three old friends in turn and asked, "What... what is going on?"

"There's something we need to explain to you, but you have to keep it completely secret. Do you understand, Harry?" Hermione asked sounding very serious. Harry nodded.

You know who Voldemort is, right?" Hermione asked suddenly, ignoring Ron, who flinched at the name.

"Sure, everybody knows about him. You killed him, right Har-, er, Mr. Potter?" Harry Wiggins said, glancing at his namesake.

"That's right, but I certainly didn't do it alone."

"But, you did face him alone in the end, when you beat him!" Harry sounded very young as he spoke, as if he had read about the fight in a comic book. The real Battle of Hogwarts had been long and terrible.

"That was only at the very end," Harry Potter said, and the boy was surprised that he sounded self-conscious, as if being congratulated made him uneasy. By now, Mr. Potter must have been congratulated so many times that Harry thought he would be used to it. "The real battle against Voldemort started long before that final battle. This is important, so try to listen closely, Harry."

"S-sure," Harry Wiggins said, still very confused. What was so important about history?

"After Harry was born, Voldemort learned of a prophecy that said that Harry was dangerous to him," Hermione began, for it seemed like Harry Potter didn't want to tell this story. "He immediately began targeting Harry's parents. When Harry was a year old he came to their house and, well, he killed them. He tried to kill Harry as well, but because his mother had given her life to protect him, the curse backfired and hit Voldemort instead. After that, he lost his power and more or less disappeared from the world for thirteen years."

Harry nodded, for he more or less knew that story. Everyone knew that story. "I'm sure you've been told that no one knows the reason why Voldemort was not killed for good." Hermione took a deep breath before saying, "That is not true. The reason he remained alive was because he had created Horcruxes."

"Hor-whats?"

"Horcruxes. They are a type of very dark magic that allows someone to split off a part of their soul and place it in an object. While the Horcrux remains intact, that dark wizard cannot truly die. Voldemort's body was destroyed by a rebounding curse the day he attacked Harry, but he remained alive."

"So Voldemort had one of these Horcruxes," Harry repeated, stunned. He had never heard anything like this before.

"No," Ron said, laughing humourlessly, "You-Know-Who had seven."

"S-seven?"

"He only intended to create six, but ended up making seven and splitting his soul into eight pieces," Harry Potter said, his voice strained. This was clearly difficult for him to talk about. "That is why we had to hunt down all the Horcruxes and destroy them before we could kill Voldemort himself."

"That's..." Harry faltered. He had no way to express exactly what that was. "Why doesn't anyone know this?" He asked after opening and closing his mouth several times.

"Well, it was Dumbledore's decision, initially, only to tell us about this," Hermione said, glancing uncomfortably at Mr. Potter. "He felt that it would be too dangerous to tell the world about that kind of magic. It might give rise to imitators. We… we decided he was probably right." She sounded as if she didn't entirely agree, but wasn't willing to argue.

"Well, anyways," she continued, "when Harry finally defeated Voldemort, oh get a grip, Ron, we thought it was over. After all, all the major Death Eaters were either dead or were rounded up and sent to Azkaban within a year, and there was no sign that anything was wrong. We should have known, though, that it was possible. But we were careless, and so we were caught by surprise."

"What happened?" Harry asked, breathlessly.

"Creating a Horcrux is an incredibly difficult and dangerous feat of dark magic, but it is magic that is far older than Voldemort himself. He was not the first wizard to split his soul," Hermione said. "While it was far beyond the ability of most death eaters, there was one who had enough skill, enough blood-lust and enough favour with her master to learn the technique."

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Harry Wiggins guessed, the name sending goosebumps up his arm.

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Hermione said, nodding. "We don't know whether Voldemort taught her or not, for she certainly could have discovered the knowledge on her own, and we don't know exactly when, but sometime before the Battle of Hogwarts, Bellatrix Lestrange created a Horcrux of her own."

"So... so she didn't die."

"No, or at least her body didn't stay dead for long. Sometime after the battle, it is impossible to know exactly when, Bellatrix Lestrange came back to life," Hermione said, her voice shaking slightly.

"But Voldemort's... you said his spirit didn't come back to his body!" Protested Harry Wiggins. "Why did hers?"

"Good question," Hermione said, nodding in approval, as if impressed that he had thought of that question. Well, he was from a long line of Ravenclaws, thank you very much. "I'm not sure, but there are a few possible reasons. Mrs. Weasley didn't hit her with the unblockable killing curse, and her body wasn't utterly destroyed the way his was. Perhaps that made it possible for her soul to return there. Or maybe Voldemort's Horcruxes didn't work properly because he had created several, and the magic of each one interfered with the others. I can't say for sure, for there has been very little research done on the subject and, frankly, I don't want to do any of my own."

Harry pondered this, and shrugged. She was right, it didn't make much difference either way. "So what did Bellatrix do when she, um, woke up?"

"We don't know," admitted Hermione, sounding frustrated at her lack of knowledge. "We have no information on what she was doing for several years. Of course, no one knew that she was still alive, so we weren't actively searching for her. Still, as far as we can tell she never attacked anyone, or revealed her presence to the Ministry at all. It-"

"What could she have been doing?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Again, we don't know for sure, Harry, but we can guess. If you just stay patient, we'll explain as much as we can." Hermione glared at him for interrupting.

"S-sorry."

"It's quite all right, Rosie does the same thing all the time, but try to listen. We finally got word of her four years ago, when..."

"Four years ago?" Harry asked, interrupting again. He couldn't help himself. Hermione looked annoyed, but Ron just laughed.

"Four years ago, an anonymous note was left in my office at the Ministry." Mr. Potter said, speaking for the first time in a while. I had just come back from lunch with my wife and children and there it was, sitting on my desk. It said that there was a little girl who needed our help and gave the address of a very remote location in Southern Wales. It seemed a little strange, but my partner and I decided to go investigate. Even if it was most likely a prank, it was worth investigating."

"Partner?" Harry asked.

"Yours truly," Ron said, bowing his head with an exaggerated flourish. "We were both Aurors back then, and we figured we'd seen it all by then." He grew serious and added, "But I had never seen anything like I saw that day. I don't reckon you should show the kid what happened, Harry, he's way too young."

"He needs to understand if he wants to make a decision," Mr. Potter said, looking up at the portrait of the old man again. Harry wondered why he kept doing it. Mr. Potter wasn't getting any kind of answer. At least, not one that Harry could see. "I learned long ago that no good comes from treating children as though they were too young to handle the truth. Harry Wiggins wants to help the girl, so he must understand what that means. Are you ready, Harry?"

"Ready for what?" Harry asked nervously. Was the story over?

"It would be impossible to tell you exactly what happened that day, but there is a way to show you." Mr. Potter walked over to the stone basin, and waved the boy over. "This is called a Pensive, and it will allow you to enter into my memory."

Harry stared at the bowl in wonder, unable to believe that something like that actually existed. "Ron and Hermione are probably right," Mr. Potter said grimly, "this is not something you would like to see."

"But you think I should, right?" Harry asked, turning to this namesake.

"Yes."

"And doing this will help Clytemnestra?"

"Yes."

"Then I want to help her," Harry said firmly.

Harry Potter nodded, knowing that would be the boy's answer. He told the younger Harry what to expect when they touched the swirling substance in the Pensive, and together the two of them leaned forward and entered Harry Potter's memory. He wished he didn't have to relive that day again. Once had been enough.


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 Memories Better Left Forgotten

Harry felt himself leave his feet, his mind and body drawn into the swirling substance of Mr. Potter's memories. He felt really, really strange, as if his body couldn't tell whether it was flying or falling. It was not a pleasant feeling, and Harry kept his eyes shut until his feet touched solid ground again. He blinked a few times, surprised by the violent glare of the setting sun. Moments later Mr. Potter landed beside him and, after adjusting his glasses, gestured vaguely towards the top of a little nearby hill.

"That's where Ron and I are, I think," Mr. Potter said, but Harry saw no one. To him, it appeared to be nothing but an unremarkably bare hilltop, no different from any of the other dozen or so low rolling hills in sight. But as Harry watched, squinting his eyes really hard to try and see whatever Mr. Potter saw, someone coughed abruptly.

"Damn it, Ron," Mr. Potter muttered, but it was not the Mr. Potter that was standing beside Harry. Instead the voice came from the hilltop, as did Ron's response.

"Hey, I can't help if I have to cough, mate. Why'd we have to bring the cloak, anyways? You said yourself that this was probably just a practical joke."

The invisible Mr. Potter didn't respond. Instead the sound of faint footsteps could be heard, along with faint sound of robes swishing through the tall grass. Harry stared in the direction of the sound in amazement, wishing he had an invisibility cloak more than he had ever wished he had anything. He turned to Mr. Potter beside him, grinning like a maniac. "That's so cool, Mr. Potter!"

Mr. Potter just chuckled. "It does make it rather hard for us to follow me... I mean them... well, you know what I mean. Anyways, it's a good thing that I know the way, or we would definitely get lost. Follow me, Harry."

Harry did as he was told, following Mr. Potter through the grassy fields of Wales. The memory versions of Mr. Potter and Ron were probably around here as well, but Harry couldn't see them. They could be absolutely anywhere. Invisibility cloaks really were amazing.

It didn't take long for their destination to come into view— an old half-ruined castle, high up on a cliff, overlooking a lake. It reminded Harry a little bit of Hogwarts, except that the lake and the castle itself were much smaller and there were no people in sight. If Harry'd had to guess, he would have assumed the castle was completely abandoned.

"What do you reckon?" Invisible Ron asked suddenly a few feet away, making Harry to jump. Seriously, how much fun would a cloak like that be? He could scare the mickey out of Cassy and all his friends. It would be amazing!

"Well, it's the only thing around these parts, so we better take a look," Invisible Harry Potter said without much enthusiasm.

"Is that where we're going?" Harry Wiggins asked, looked to Mr. Potter. The older Harry nodded in response, his face troubled and uneasy. Whatever was about to happen, it wasn't good. They continued on in awkward silence, and as they approached the castle Harry started to feel more and more nervous. He knew it was silly, since there was no way that anything could happen to him here. After all, this was just a memory… Harry wasn't even really here. But still, something bad was going to happen—something scary. By the time they reached the dark, forbidding archway leading into the poorly lit castle, Harry was completely spooked and ready to jump at every shadow. The memory versions of Ron and Mr. Potter were still invisible, but one of them tripped over a piece of loose rubble as they made their way into the castle, momentarily giving away their position. Ron muttered a quiet string of profanities before they set off again, making their way into the castle. Harry and Mr. Potter followed, walking slowly through the twisting hallways of the dusty, ruined castle. Harry's heart was hammering in his chest, and every time they turned a corner he was sure something dark and scary would be waiting for them. He wasn't proud of it, but Harry couldn't resist the temptation to cover his eyes with his hands, peeking cautiously through his fingers. He just couldn't help it, this place was completely terrifying.

At last they came to a huge hall with an ancient chandelier hanging from the ceiling, providing enough light to truly illuminate the castle for the first time. But Harry did not look at the chandelier, for his eyes were drawn to the far corner of the room where a little girl sat crying, her long dark hair covering her face. She was covered with dust and her hair was so long and dark that Harry couldn't see her face. But Harry immediately knew who she was, for her arms were bleeding heavily, as if she had recently been cut by something. Harry had seen this girl crying just over an hour ago, sitting alone in a burning room. He had known that Cleo would be here, since this was what Mr. Potter had taken him here to see, but the sight of her still filled him an emotion he couldn't quite understand. It was somewhere between unbearable sadness, an unshakable desire to comfort her, and unrestrained anger at whoever or whatever had done this to her. Harry wondered, vaguely, what people called that feeling.

"Bloody Hell," Ron whispered, his strangled voice a mix of horror and revulsion. Before Harry Potter could stop him, Ron cast the cloak aside and raced towards the girl. The memory of Harry Potter just stood there, torn. His wand was ready in his hand, and his eyes scanned the room, probably expected a trap. It was a good thing, too, for a trap was exactly what this was.

Ron reached the sobbing Cleo, who looked up at him in surprise, probably wondering where this stranger had come from. Cleo looked straight at Ron, and Harry could see in her eyes that same dead, empty look she almost always had when she looked at someone.

"Hey, are you alright, little one?" Ron asked, awkwardly, clearly aware that there was no way this poor girl was _alright_. She was wearing a knee-length skirt, and Harry could see that she had burns and cuts covering her legs too. Ron stared at her legs in horror, completely at a loss of what to do. Without warning, Clytemnestra Lestrange reached forward and grabbed the front of Ron's robes. When she spoke, her voice was shrill and halting, sounding to Harry as though it hadn't been used in years, "R-run, you have to run!"

Ron was staring at her, bewildered, and so he didn't see the woman who crept forward out of the shadows, or the jet of green light she fired at him. All he heard was the horribly familiar voice of Bellatrix Lestrange shout, "Avada Kedavra." At that point it was already too late for Ron to do anything, and there was no way he could have blocked the killing curse, even if he had been ready. Avada Kedavra could not be blocked.

Harry Wiggins screamed impulsively, unable to stop himself. He should have known that it would be alright, after all he had spoken to Ron Weasley only minutes before, so there was simply no way he was going to die here. It was Mr. Potter who saved him, waving his hand with the precision gained from years of fighting against dark wizards. He directed his wand at Ron, who was wordlessly lifted into the air as if hooked by the ankle. Harry was shocked, for this was the exact same spell that Atalanta had used to send him up to the girl's dormitory. The green jet of light missed Ron by inches, and Mr. Potter immediately released the spell, dropping his best friend back to earth. Ron landed heavily, but he was up on his feet a moment later, his wand in his hand.

"It's so nice to see old friends, isn't it?" said the old woman, stepping forward into the light. Harry Wiggins screamed again, for the revived body Bellatrix Lestrange was grotesque and inhuman. She looked a lot like a scarecrow, her skin stretched thinly over her impossibly narrow body. The colour of her skin was wrong—it was a sickly shade of grey, as if she was already mostly dead. That made a certain sense since her body had actually had been dead for a time. Her white hair, what was left of it, was wild, stringy, and tangled. Harry thought she looked like a monster... well sort of. Honestly, he didn't have the imagination to think up anything as terrifying as Bellatrix Lestrange. She was more than a monster, the kind of nightmare that other nightmare would have nightmares about. The worst thing for Harry the way she smiled fondly over at Cleo, as if she was nothing but a proud mother.

"I see you met my daughter, my little Clytemnestra," Bellatrix said, swaying slightly, her smile losing all resemblance of how a human mouth would arrange itself. Her smile was something feral, betraying the dark hunger of insanity that could never be satisfied. "She's a very special girl."

"What have you done to this girl, you monster?" Ron asked, while Mr. Potter remained silent, staring at Bellatrix as if he couldn't believe that she was really here.

"Done?" Bellatrix asked, her voice high and shrill in her tortured insanity, "I have done nothing but prepare my daughter for that which she was born for. I have taught her greatness, and she is nearly ready to fulfil the mission that my master entrusted to her."

"Are you mad?" Harry Potter shouted. "Voldemort is dead, gone forever. You've tortured this poor girl for the orders of a dead fool?"

"YOU DARE SPEAK HIS NAME, YOU FILTHY HALF-BLOOD," shrieked Bellatrix, slashing her wand at Harry Potter. Mr. Potter had clearly expected this, for he rolled quickly to the side. The floor of the hall was jagged and uneven, though, and as Mr. Potter rose to his feet Harry could see that Mr. Potter's left leg was cut and bleeding. Out of the corner of his eyes, Harry saw the present day Mr. Potter wince, probably remembering the wound.

"Ron," the memory version of Mr. Potter said, ducking behind an old table as Bellatrix howled and sent more curses flying at him. "You need to go find her Horcrux, fast."

"Her… what?" Ron was momentarily struck speechless from behind the pillar where he had taken shelter after having grabbed Clytemnestra, who looked like she was dazed and half-asleep. But Ron was not really as dim as he occasionally appeared to be, and he very quickly pieced together what his best friend was talking about. After all, they were kind of experts when it came to Horcruxes. "Oh hell, I thought we were done with all this rubbish. Bloody Horcruxes. Could be anywhere."

"No, it's here," Mr. Potter yelled, racing out from her the table to take cover behind a crumbling pillar. "She would keep it close, after what happened to her buddy Tom Riddle."

Bellatrix howled in rage while Harry Wiggins wondered in confusion who this Tom person was. He flinched and screamed for the, what, third time? Yeah, it was the third time, and Harry screamed because Bellatrix shot a curse right at him. It passes through his body and blasted chunks off of the pillar behind which Mr. Potter was hiding. Mr. Potter sent a few spells firing back at Bellatrix Lestrange, but she deflected them easily. She advanced towards Mr. Potter steadily, unafraid and unconcerned about anything that might hurt her. There was no more difficult opponent than one who was too determined or too insane to care if they were hurt or killed, and Harry Potter knew it.

"This is bad, Ron," Mr. Potter shouted, trying to keep Bellatrix at bay with his magic. "Any ideas?"

Ron was not really known for his ideas, and in a situation like this he couldn't think all that clearly. Nothing came to mind, nothing except the simplest, most basic spell that could not possibly work. They had tried it so many times when they'd hunted for You-Know-Who's Horcruxes, and it had never worked. Not even once. But Ron had no other ideas, and so he simply raised his wand straight up in the air and said. "Accio Horcrux!"

Much to the surprise of everyone involved, the spell worked to perfection. Ron often wondered later why Bellatrix hadn't protected the fragment of her soul with the standard protection spells that You-Know-Who had used on his own Horcruxes. But he never got an answer, not even from Hermione. Sure, his wife had rattled off a series of plausible theories, but they were all based on the assumption that Bellatrix was a rational, sane person. Ron, though, knew that at that point Bellatrix was anything but sane. If he had to guess, Ron would probably have said that as Bellatrix fell deeper into her insanity, she could no longer process things coherently. More likely than not, it never occurred to her to protect herself until her Horcrux was flying through the air towards Ron. At that point, of course, it was far too late.

The Horcrux was a long thin knife, the hilt engraved ornately with the Black family crest. As it came flying towards Ron and Clytemnestra, Cleo screamed and backed away from it, emerging from behind the pillar. Bellatrix started towards them, her eyes wild, but as Ron reached out and took the knife, she stopped and began to laugh. The laugh sent shivers down Harry Wiggin's spine, for he had never heard anything less human-sounding come out of someone's mouth.

"So you found my little secret," she cackled, "but how are you planning on destroying it? Baby Potter and his puppy dog are helpless as ever, it's delicious." She said the last word as a hiss, biting her lip so hard that it drew blood. Her tongue flicked out of her mouth, licking up her own blood eagerly. Harry was beyond horrified as he watched, there were no words he knew to describe the sickness in Bellatrix's soul. Mr. Potter bad been right, he didn't want to see any more. Just knowing someone could become like this was so horrible that Harry just wanted to crawl into a corner and cry for a week straight. Harry didn't think that this could get any worse. He was wrong.

"Clytemnestra, come here, dear," Bellatrix crooned sweetly, holding her hand out to her daughter, who was huddled against the wall, staring at the knife in Ron's hand in utter terror. The fear and hurt on her face squeezed Harry's heart, as did the false words of her horrid mother. Harry was so sure that Cleo would refuse, but she didn't. Instead she dropped her eyes, and meekly walked over to her mother.

"No, girl, what are you doing?" Shouted Ron, who almost emerged from behind the pillar to stop her. He thought better of it though, as Bellatrix raised her wand almost lazily and muttered, "Avada Kedavra," sending a jet of green light flying at the pillar. Mr. Potter also stayed where he was, watching the scene with a deeply uneasy look on his face.

"Watch closely," the present-day version of Mr. Potter said, looking at Harry with a strange expression on his face. What was that look? Was it pity, fear… regret? Harry couldn't tell.

"Take your wand and kill the bad men," Bellatrix said, gently, her right hand caressing Cleo's face while her left hand drew out a second wand. "I know you're ready."

Cleo didn't respond, she just kept her eyes fixed on the ground. Harry stared at the extra wand in surprise, wondering what was going on. That was the same wand that Cleo used at Hogwarts, but she shouldn't have had it yet. Wizards weren't allowed to have a wand before they turned eleven, it was against the rules. Obviously that wouldn't mean much to someone like Bellatrix Lestrange, but there was more to it than that. Right after Cassy had gotten her wand and was getting ready to go to Hogwarts, Harry had thrown his biggest tantrum ever. Why, he had shouted over and over again, could his stupid sister have a wand when he couldn't? He hadn't finally calmed down until Mother had told him, very patiently, that a wizard couldn't even use a wand properly before they turned eleven, because their magic was too wild and unstable to channel properly. So even if, somehow, Bellatrix had managed to steal a wand for her daughter, she shouldn't have been able to use it the way a real wizard could.

"Do as I say, girl," Bellatrix commanded, her voice quivering with a combination of anger and madness.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Clytemnestra whispered, raising her face to look at her mother. Harry could see her eyes clearly, and they were as dead as always. There was no spark of life, no glimmer of hope in her eyes. It was painful to see. "I don't want to…"

She stopped speaking abruptly, for Bellatrix slashed with her wand and Cleo was sent flying, slamming into the far wall. Harry screamed again, and took more than a few steps towards her before his rational mind processed that there was nothing he could do for he. He was just a witness, nothing more. Ron and Mr. Potter had shouted too, and both sent curses flying at Bellatrix. But she just laughed and laughed, deflecting their attacks with ease.

Cleo gathered herself silently. She didn't seem to be hurt, for she moved gracefully and with purpose, rising to her feet. She looked over in the direction of Bellatrix, and Harry could see that she was bleeding freely from her nose and from a gash in her neck. It was her eyes, though, that caught his attention. Her eyes were wrong— they flickered with a strange light that made her blue irises look as though they were on fire. He had never seen her like this before. No wait, Harry realized suddenly, that wasn't true. Her eyes had the same trance-like quality that they'd had earlier that night in her burning dormitory. He hadn't noticed the flickering light in her eyes at the time, but only because the whole room had been on fire. Cleo was in the same state she had been in then. What did that mean?

Cleo walked over to her mother with purpose, holding her hand out wordlessly for her wand. Something about her seemed different. Harry couldn't quite tell what it was, but he knew that Cleo wasn't acting the way she usually did. It made him very uneasy. "Good, girl," whispered Bellatrix, handing the girl her wand, "Do what Mommy tells you and you'll be rewarded."

Clytemnestra turned her burning blue eyes to regard Bellatrix. "You said the hurting would stop," the girl said calmly, reaching up to touch her bleeding face. "You said when I was ready it would stop."

"It will, once you kill them. Won't you kill them for me?" Bellatrix asked, imploringly. Harry watched the exchange in terror, unable to believe what was going on. Ron and Mr. Potter seemed to be unable to speak, transfixed by the exchange. Clytemnestra turned her head to one side, as if considering the question carefully. After a moment she shrugged and turned towards Ron, raising her wand.

"I suppose I could, Mother."

Clytemnestra struck like a snake, her curse wordlessly blasting Ron off his feet. He was knocked out instantly, but Harry could tell that the spell hadn't actually killed him. Clytemnestra waved her wand again, and the Horcrux flew towards her. She caught it calmly and held it in her right hand as she held the wand loosely in her left. Moments before she had been utterly terrified of the knife, but now she held it casually in her right hand. What was going on? Without pausing, she turned towards Harry Potter.

Bellatrix was laughing again, and her shrill, mad voice echoed through the hall. "What's the matter, baby Potter, are you scared? I heard that you have children of your own now with that filthy little blood traitor slut. I almost wish I could have my Clytemnestra kill the little whore and your brats first, just so I could make you watch them die. Just like poor mummy and daddy, just like poor Sirius and old man Dumby. Don't worry, little baby Potter, I'll make sure your family screams for hours before they die. It's only right that our children get to know each other, after all."

What bothered Harry Wiggins most were not Bellatrix's words, since she was clearly just an evil and twisted old lady, but rather Clytemnestra's reaction. More precisely, though, it should be called the complete absence of a reaction. There was no way that the Cleo he knew could have just accepted word like that without comment. She had saved him when he had been on the verge of losing control, she had tried to be nice to him, in her own little way, when he felt lonely and scared. He had seen gratitude in her eyes when he had tried to help her, that brief glimmer that sometimes showed itself though the darkness in her eyes. He had thought that her dead eyes were empty, but Harry realized now that wasn't the case at all. That dead look merely reflected her hopelessness, her loneliness and her fear. This burning, trance-like she had in her eyes right now; that was the look of true emptiness. It was like she didn't care about the horrible meaning of mother's words at all. How could she not care?

Bellatrix's words had the desired effect, Mr. Potter recklessly raced out from behind the pillar to face Bellatrix and Clytemnestra. Harry looked over at the present-day Mr. Potter in surprise, startled by the fact that he had been baited that easily. Mr. Potter scratched the back of his head and shrugged as if to say that he couldn't help himself. Harry could understand getting upset at the horrible things Bellatrix had said, but Mr. Potter letting her manipulate him like that was really surprising. Harry would never have fallen for something like that, no matter how angry he was. It was pointless, and it would just give the bad guys what they want.

Mr. Potter shouted, "_Stupefy!_" and a jet of red light went flying at Bellatrix, but it did not reach her. Clytemnestra danced in front of it, deflecting it easily. She advanced on Mr. Potter like an agile cat, sending a shower of spells raining down on him. Mr. Potter tried to block them all and fight her off, but Clytemnestra moved closer and closer, her wand moving so fast it was a blur. Harry couldn't believe it. He had never seen any wizard who was that strong, and Cleo was only seven years old at the time! This was impossible, she was some sort of mon- . No, Harry thought firmly, cutting off his own train of thoughts. Cleo isn't a monster, there's nothing wrong with her. Whoever this is… whatever is going on… this wan't her.

The fight did not last much longer. One of Clytemnestra's red jets pierced Mr. Potter's defences and he fell over, stunned. Bellatrix laughed all the more, cackling hysterically as Cleo walked calmly over to the fallen Harry Potter and, putting down the horcrux in her right hand, picked up his wand. Mr. Potter looked up at the little girl, an unmistakable look of fear in his eyes.

"Kill him," Bellatrix demanded, "kill Harry Potter."

It was only because Harry Wiggins was watching so closely that he saw it, a slight change in Cleo's eyes—a flicker of light. Not like the fire burning in her trance eyes, this was like the spark of life he sometimes saw in Cleo's eyes when she looked at Harry.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Cleo whispered, and she blinked rapidly as she stood over Mr. Potter with her wand in one hand and his wand in the other.

"What are you doing, girl? Kill him!" Bellatrix said, her voice mad and dangerous.

"No," Clytemnestra said, the flicker in her eyes faded as she turned to face her mother. Her trance-like eyes stared past her mother's left shoulder. "He will not be killed. Not now. But you, mother, it is time for you to die."

"Know your place, girl," Bellatrix said, smiling wickedly. "You cannot defeat me, not even as you are now. How many times have you tried and failed?"

"Things have changed," Clytemnestra said calmly, twirling both of the wands with her little fingers. "I can finally be free."

Bellatrix paused, considering this. Then she smiled insanely and said, "You want to fight to test me, child? Very well, try to kill me."

Clytemnestra turned her head to one side, seeming to consider her option. "_Niksuma Girru_," she said, pointing both of her wands at the Horcrux at her feet. The dagger immediately burst into flames, slowly burning in a blaze of pure white flames. Bellatrix screamed suddenly, collapsing to her knees. The dagger screamed too, and it started to bleed as it was slowly melted to ash. Clytemnestra advanced on her kneeling mother, her wands pointed at her.

To Harry's utter shock, Bellatrix Lestrange began to laugh. She staggered to her feet and smiled in her insanity. "I've trained you well. I'm so proud of you, daughter, so very proud."

"You taught me nothing," Clytemnestra said, her blazing eyes narrowed in hatred. "You simply woke what should have been left sleeping. For that, you will pay."

Bellatrix raised her wand, and smiling broadly said, "_Avada Kedavra_," and sent a killing curse flying at her daughter. Clytemnestra dodged it easily, and with a wand in each hand sent a barrage of spells flying at her mother. The battle was furious, and spells were fired back and forth so quickly that Harry couldn't follow it clearly. Cleo seemed to be winning, but her mother simply wouldn't go down. Harry could tell, as the fight dragged on, that Cleo was tiring quickly, and as he watched her nose and the wound on her neck began bleeding furiously. It was terrifying to watch, not only because of the unbelievable level of magic she was using but also because of her utter disregard of her own wounds. This was not the way a seven-year-old girl should be acting. In some ways, it was as inhuman as her mother's insanity.

Harry knew what was coming the instant before it happened. Bellatrix failed to dodge a stunning spell and fell to her knees unable to move. Clytemnestra swung both her hands in a wide arc, and two spells cut into Bellatrix, cutting deep gashes into her chest. She screamed, and collapsed, blood bubbling up in her mouth. Clytemnestra collapsed as well, utterly spent. She seemed to lose consciousness, and immediately Ron and Mr. Potter began to move as the spells she had cast on them lifted. Mr. Potter hurried over to Bellatrix, checking to see if she was still alive. She was, but just barely. Harry moved over to her too, just in time to hear her last words.

"I did it, Master," Bellatrix whispered, blood pouring out of her mouth. "I finally did it. She is ready." She gave one violent shudder and died her second, final death. Mr. Potter looked down at her, his expression indecipherable to Harry, while Ron staggered to his feet, and rushed over to Clytemnestra, trying to check if she was alright.

"RON!" called Harry Potter urgently over his shoulder, "Stay away from her. That girl is a monster."

Ron ignored him, lifting the girl in his arms. She was bleeding heavily, for it seemed that many of the cuts all over her body had reopened. Judging from the amount of blood, Harry guessed that she had been cut… everywhere. He sank to his knees, unable to resist the urge to throw up. But nothing came out. Apparently, you couldn't hurl in someone else's memory.

Clytemnestra stirred feebly in Ron's arms, her eyes fluttering open faintly. She looked the way Harry had felt after he suffered magic drain. Basically, completely awful. Her eyes were back to normal, though, and she looked up at Ron like a lost, terrified seven-year-old girl. "W-what happened? M-mother?"

Mr. Potter made his way over to Ron and Cleo, clearly thinking hard. "The Ministry has to be told what happened here." He said after a moment, locking eyes with Ron.

"Yeah. And Hermione too, better tell her."

"And Hermione too, of course," agreed Mr. Potter, a ghost of something resembling a smile on his face.

Before either of them could say more, Cleo caught sight of her mother, and to everyone's surprise she immediately started to cry. "M-mother… what h-happened?"

Harry felt his own mouth drop open, and it took him a few second to shut it again. What did she mean? She had been there. She had done it…

Neither Ron nor Mr. Potter responded immediately. Both thinking hard, trying, like Harry, to understand what this meant. "I am very sorry, Clytemnestra was it?" Mr. Potter said after a stretch of silence punctuated with Cleo's sobs. "I'm sorry but your mother and I had a fight, and she was killed. There was nothing I could do."

"S-so she can't hurt me anymore. She a-always… would always hurt, trying to get me to do s-something. I never knew what she wanted. I-I never…" Cleo said no more, she just kept sobbing. Her bleeding continued, and it seemed to Harry that she was only half-conscious.

"Just who is that girl?" Ron muttered, looking down at the girl in his arms.

"Who," agreed Harry Potter, "and what."

"That's enough," the present day Mr. Potter said, grabbing hold of Harry's shoulder. Immediately the world began to slip away, and moments later they were standing back in Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione watching them anxiously.

"Now, you've seen it," Mr. Potter said, adjusting his glasses, "Do you understand, Harry?"

"N-not really," muttered Harry Wiggins honestly.

"Neither do I," Harry Potter said with a sigh, "Neither do I."


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 Arrangements

Harry Wiggins blinked several times, trying to think his way through everything he had seen. But it was all too much to process—there were so many things he still didn't understand, and so he just shuffled over to the chair where Cleo had been sitting earlier that night and sat down, wondering if maybe things would make more sense if he was sitting down. They didn't.

"Harry, dear? There's a bit more that you need to know before you get the full picture," Hermione said, glancing nervously at Mr. Potter as if to make sure that he wanted her to be telling more information. Mr. Potter sat down opposite Harry and nodded to Hermione, indicating that she should continue.

"About an hour after B-Bellatrix Lestrange was killed… I mean… again," Hermione said, her name catching slightly as she said the name. Harry saw her subtly touch her left arm, as if it were bothering her somehow. Ron came to stand beside her and put his arm around her. "I-I'm fine. Gosh, sorry, where was I?" Hermione asked, more flustered than Harry Wiggins had ever seen her. "Well, after s-she was killed, the Ministry had to decide what to do with an unidentified seven-year-old who called herself Clytemnestra Lestrange and claimed to be the daughter of… the deceased."

"What do you mean claimed?" Harry interrupted, confused. Bellatrix had called Cleo her daughter, he had seen it himself. What was Hermione talking about?

"Well, it seemed implausible that Bellatrix was her actual mother, since the girl would have been, er, conceived in 2006, given that she is now eleven years old," Hermione said. "That would mean that Bellatrix had a daughter at the age of 55. Even for a witch, that is, well, impossible."

"It is?" Harry asked in wonder. Honestly, he had never given much thought to things like this before. Mr. Potter and Hermione appeared to be very uncomfortable with the conversation. Ron, though, was not.

"Sure is, mate. But even if it weren't, I don't see old Bellatrix getting knocked up with that half-dead body of hers. I mean, what sort of bloke would be willing to-"

"Ron," Hermione interrupted furiously, "Harry is _eleven_!"

"Er, right. I'll be quiet now," Ron said, smiling guiltily.

"So anyways," Hermione said, still glaring accusingly at her husband, "the Ministry made it immediate priority to learn just who the girl was. Minister Shacklebolt sent me to Wales as soon as he got Harry's Patronus message. I got there as fast as I could, and it was a good thing too, because if I had arrived any later, someone might have been hurt."

"What?" Harry asked, confused.

"Scrimgeour," Ron muttered angrily, as if it were a curse word.

"Cassius Scrimgeour is the head of the Department of the Magical Law Enforcement," Mr. Potter said, a little more reasonably. "His family is very old, and his father was briefly Minister of Magic before he was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange, on Voldemort's orders. Scrimgeour has always hated and fought the dark arts, but sometimes he takes it too far."

"The moment Harry reported what had happened to the Ministry, the git apparated to Wales with half of his department and demanded that Clytemnestra be handed over to him. He was going to have the girl locked up in Azkaban," said Ron. "No trial, no hearing, no waiting for more information… nothing. Old Cassius just wanted her to suffer."

"And you stopped him?" Harry asked, turning to face Mr. Potter. He found that a little surprising, given that Mr. Potter wanted Cleo to be expelled and had even said that she was a monster. Why had he stopped Scrimgeour?

Mr. Potter refused to look at Harry. Instead he simply said, "Yeah well, it was Ron who said she couldn't be locked up just like that. All I did was support my best friend and refuse to hand her over. It didn't matter to me."

Harry watched Mr. Potter closely, and it was pretty easy to tell he was lying. Mr. Potter clearly couldn't decide what to do with girl. He wanted to help her, but he seemed to be afraid of her at the same time. Given the things they had seen her do, it was hard to blame him.

"By the time I got there, Ron had claimed legal responsibility for the girl and resigned as an Auror so that Director Scrimgeour couldn't order him to hand her over," Hermione said, torn between admiration of her husband's conviction and disapproval of his recklessness. "Also, I think he and Cassius were on the verge of duelling."

"We sure were, and I would have kicked his ass if you hadn't stopped me," muttered Ron, miming blasting an invisible Cassius Scrimgeour with his wand. "I'll get him someday. That git has it coming."

"Ron, he is my boss," Hermione said with a sigh, "You really shouldn't say things like that."

"How did you stop it?" Harry asked, his eyes wide. Why hadn't he been able to stay and watch this memory? It sounded exciting.

"I used my authority as special assistant to the Minister to keep her out of Azkaban," Hermione said, smiling as if she was proud of the fact she had found a way to use the rules to her advantage.

"Wait, but you just said that Scrimgeour was your boss…" Harry was now really confused.

"He is now," Hermione explained patiently, "but at the time I was working both as special assistant to the Minister of Magic and as a senior member of the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. You see, I was working to ensure that House Elves were granted…"

"Hermione, focus," Mr. Potter said, exchanging covert grins with Ron. Hermione glared at them both, but stopped talking about whatever she had been trying to do with House Elves. That was good, since Harry really didn't care about that just now.

"Then what happened?" Harry demanded, anxious to get to the bottom of the mystery. Did Hermione take this long to explain everything?

"Well, I performed the Genelogia charm, which reveals a person's parentage. It's a nasty spell actually, invented by a pure blood fanatic so that she could tell the blood status of people just by meeting them…" Hermione trailed off, frowned.

"AND?" Harry demanded loudly. He hadn't really meant to, but she was taking too long. Hermione blinked in surprise and Ron just laughed.

"Oh, sorry, Harry," Hermione said. "The girl is definitely the daughter of Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, both of whom were supposed to have died in 1998. Bellatrix obviously had a Horcrux and returned to life, but her husband did not."

"W-what?" Harry was stunned. That made no sense

"Exactly," Ron said, nodding his head wisely. "The spell also revealed one other interesting fact. According to Hermione's spell, Clytemnestra Lestrange was born on the 13th of October, 1980."

"B-but that would make her…"

"More or less the same age as the three of us," Harry Potter finished, rubbing his lightning-shaped scar again. "Obviously, though, she is not our age."

"Why not?" Harry asked, staring back and forth between the three of them as if someone was going to yell just kidding. Sadly, nobody did.

"It took us a while to find that out," Hermione admitted, "mostly because of the stance the Ministry took. You see, the Ministry decided to cover up the fact that Bellatrix had survived, and that she had a daughter."

"They what?" Harry asked, outraged. How could they just pretend this didn't happen?

"Can't really blame them," Ron said with a shrug. "After all, we didn't explain to them what really happened. That would involve telling the world about Horcruxes, which was something we decided not to do. Dumbledore shared that secret only with us, and we decided it would be dangerous to tell the world too many details about that kind of magic. Again, he thought it might give rise to imitators. As far as anyone knew, Bellatrix had come back to life on her own, which would do nothing but terrify the wizarding community."

"So the Ministry decided to hide the girl away, sending her to her aunt," Hermione continued "Andromeda Tonks was reluctant to care for her at first, but she eventually became very attached to her. She was her only living relatives, other than the Malfoys, of course."

"The Malfoys... like Scorpius Malfoy?" Harry asked, surprised. Scorpius and Cleo were related? Harry didn't think the boy had ever said even a single word to her. Then again, Scorpius was probably just scared of her, since he was scared of pretty much everything.

"That's right, him and his slimy father," Ron muttered. "The Malfoys refused to take her, of course, which is probably a good thing. I can only imagine the damage the Malfoys would have done if they got their claws into her."

"She was kept safe, but the Ministry basically kept her in isolation, claiming it was for safety reasons. They limited all access to her, including from us," Hermione said. "Mr. Scrimgeour did everything he could to keep us apart. He can be very stubborn when he wants to be. It wasn't until I became Deputy Director for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement that I was able to get someone to look at her. Even then, I had to call in every favour I had to get a healer to examine her. At last Madame Pomfrey, who was an old friend of ours and the healer here at Hogwarts before Hannah, agreed to take a look at her. She said that there was a faint presence of a very old, rare and powerful enchantment called the Somneya spell. It's a spell that is able to suspend someone in a sleep-like state for… well, forever probably."

"That's crazy," Harry said. "Why would someone do that to a little kid?"

"You heard Bellatrix, didn't you?" Mr. Potter said, his voice hard. "It was all part of some plan Voldemort had. We figure he must have cast the spell on her soon after her birth, but he never lifted it, even after he returned to power. Whatever he wanted from her, the time wasn't ready yet. Bellatrix must have found a way to track her daughter down and lift the spell, but given how old she is now it must have taken Bellatrix years to find her daughter after her Horcrux brought her back to life."

"Then she stared torturing her," Harry said angrily.

"That's right," nodded Mr. Potter sadly. "Sometime around the girl's fifth birthday, Bellatrix started to harm her daughter. There seems to have been sort of purpose to it, although we have no idea exactly what it might have been. She said she was training the girl for something, something Voldemort wanted her to do."

"What sort of something?" Harry asked in a small voice. Was that really true, was Cleo really born to be some sort of weapon of evil? That was just too horrible.

"I don't know," Mr. Potter said in frustration, "There's just no way to tell what Voldemort's plans were, or if they even matter now. Bellatrix certainly succeeded in turning her into a weapon, though. You saw it yourself, Harry. The things she could do once she entered that sort of trance ought to have been completely impossible, but she did them. She killed her own mother, and didn't even remember it afterwards. Harry, listen to me. I know you care for the girl, I really do, but you have to realize how dangerous she is. She could kill someone and not even realize it. There's no way she can stay at this school. My children… all the children, they could be in danger."

Again the words that Bellatrix had spoken echoed in Harry Wiggin's mind. Don't worry, little baby Potter, I'll make sure your family screams for hours before they die. It's only right that our children to get to know each other. So that was what Harry Potter was afraid of, that Bellatrix and her master would strike back at him and his children form beyond the grave. Again, it was hard to blame him for being afraid. After all, Harry Wiggins had seen Clytemnestra do some pretty scary things. Mr. Potter was right; he had seen her kill her own mother. And she had been the same way that night, those eyes had…

"Wait!" Harry said suddenly, "Wait… it was different!" He was so relieved he almost couldn't stand it. It would all be ok.

"What are you talking about, mate?" Ron asked as the adults exchanged confused looks.

"That trance that I saw in your memory, Mr. Potter, it was different from what happened to Cleo tonight. Back then it almost seemed like… like Cleo was a different person. She was weirdly calm, as if nothing bothered her at all. She did completely different things, like when she took her mother's knife when she had been terrified of it a minute before. And she had no memory of the things she did or said afterwards. That wasn't what happened in the dormitory. Cleo was really, really scared, and she remembered everything when she woke up. That trance was more like Cleo was sleeping… and whoever that other personality was… she was sleeping too. It was a combination of the two of them, neither one of them was fully awake, and the good Cleo was able to get herself under control without hurting anyone with… with my help." Honestly Harry wasn't sure that part was true, but a bit of a plan was forming in his mind. In spite of everything he had seen, he still believed in Cleo—the girl who had taken pity on him when all the other Slytherins had ignored or made fun of him. Whatever she had done in the past, she had still saved him from making his own mistake. If she hadn't intervened in the common room, they would probably both have been expelled by now. Maybe, just maybe, together the two of them could find a way to help each other out. It was worth a try.

"Please, I was able to reach her before, and I can do it again. As long as I'm with her, I can keep her from losing control like that. I know she's dangerous, but I know I can keep help her. Please, all of you, let her stay. I would never let any hurt Rose or Albus or… or anyone. I-I'm begging you to trust me." Harry babble on and on, gazing up at them imploringly with his warm brown eyes. Finally, at long last, he won them all over. Hermione wiped a tear from her eye, while Ron gave the boy a nod of encouragement. Mr. Potter also nodded slowly, and said quietly, "Well, she's hardly more dangerous than a werewolf."

Harry didn't know what he was talking about, but he didn't care. He had done it. Everything was going to be ok.

"Alright, it's decided then," Mr. Potter said with a heavy sigh, "The girl will not be expelled, at least not today. But be careful, Harry. If she loses control again and hurts anyone, even you, it will be your fault and she will not be given another chance. You are responsible for her now, do you understand?"

Harry nodded, unafraid. He wasn't going to let Mr. Potter, Cleo, or anyone else down. He would make it all work.

"Ron, go find the headmistress and tell her we have reached a decision."

"Why do I have to do it?" Ron demanded mutinously, but he did what Mr. Potter asked and exited. Without warning, a yawn escaped Harry's lips. He wondered what time it was, and when he glanced at the watch on his wrist he was shocked to see it was after 2 am. 2 am, Harry had never stayed up that late in his entire life! Suddenly he felt very tired, as if now that his brain knew what time it was and had decided to go on strike.

He struggled to stay awake, and was very nearly asleep by the time Ron and Headmistress Sprout returned. The Headmistress smiled at Harry Wiggins before making her way to her desk and sitting down behind it. Harry sat up straighter, refusing to give in to his tiredness. This night wasn't over yet.

"So tell me what you have decided," Professor Sprout said, her fingers unconsciously stroking a little pink-leaved plant on her desk.

Mr. Potter and Hermione summarized what Harry had told them of the events of that night and shared a little bit of Clytemnestra's past. They did not mention, for instance, that Cleo had killed her mother, nor did they mention the existence of Horcruxes. Truth be told, though, Harry didn't really listen. He had heard it all before, and he was more focused just trying to stay awake. He really wished he hadn't looked at his stupid watch. He had been fine until he realized how late it was.

"I see, so Mr. Wiggins has agreed to take responsibility for her. That should work, given that they are in the same House. But it seems to be at night that she has the least control over her… unusual powers. There's no way he could do anything about that. Unless…" The Headmistress frowned, considering.

No one spoke, and after a few seconds the headmistress turned to the portrait of a frail, white-haired former Headmistress and said. "Please inform those waiting in the staff room that we have reached our decision." The woman woke up immediately, so immediately, in fact, that if Harry had been less tired he would have realized that the portrait had only been pretending to be asleep. As it was, though, Harry thought nothing of the sort. He just sat there half-asleep until everybody else returned to the office.

Cleo was the last one to enter, walking slowly into the office with her eyes cast down. Harry immediately felt more awake when he saw her, but she didn't look over at him or do much of anything, really. She just stood apart from everyone until Ron went over to her and stood behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. Even then, she didn't look up at all, ignored everything around her except the patch of floor directly between her feet.

"What decision have you reached concerning the expulsion of Ms. Clytemnestra Lestrange?" Minister Shacklebolt asked, his deep voice resonating with authority.

"The evidence clearly points to this being nothing more than an accident, one that should be preventable in the future," Headmistress Sprout said calmly. "Since no one was seriously hurt, there are no grounds for expulsion. Ms. Lestrange will be allowed to remain at Hogwarts." Several of the Ministry officials squawked in outrage, and Cassius Scrimgeour bypassed red and turned purple in rage. Cleo looked up briefly, glancing directly at Harry. Her blue eyes sparkled, and he thought he saw the hint of a smile on her face.

"How could you protect this monster?" Scrimgeour sputtered furiously. "She's a killer, just like her mother was! How dare you-"

"Cassius," the Minister of Magic interjected, calmly but forcefully, "that is enough. The headmistress has made her decision."

"And will the Ministry accept the decision of Hogwarts, or will it try to… force the issue?" Headmistress Sprout asked quietly. The room was full of tension, and even Harry was on edge. What if the Ministry tried to isolate Cleo again, just like they had before? What would happen then?

"The Ministry of Magic will accept the school's decision, for now," the Minister said slowly, "but if Ms. Lestrange experiences another… accident, we will be forced to intervene."

"I understand," Headmistress Sprout said, relaxing visibly. "Thank you for coming, Minister, but this matter has been settled. I bid you all goodnight."

The Ministry officials took some time to leave, mostly because Scimgeour was trying to find someone to yell at before he left. There was nothing he could do, though, except glare vengefully at Ron and Mr. Potter, who he seemed to blame for this turn of events. At last, Hagrid showed Ron, Hermione, Mr. Potter and the rest of the Ministry officials out, leaving behind the four heads of the houses, the headmistress, Harry and Cleo.

"So what is going to happen now?" Professor Dimock asked, eyeing Cleo nervously. "As far as I can tell, we haven't solved anything. She might lose control again at any time."

"Not quite, Alana," Headmistress Sprout said, "We have a plan in place. Mr. Wiggins here has volunteered to watch over and ensure that this doesn't happen again. It seems that he was able to get through to her tonight and get her back under control. He should be able to help her control her power."

"And how can we be sure he can do anything at all?" Professor Clearwater asked sceptically. "I know Harry is very gifted, but the girl's powers are unpredictable and dangerous. This is an awfully big risk, headmistress."

Harry glared at all the adults, angry at the way they were talking as if Harry and Cleo weren't there. Why did everyone always talk about Cleo as if she were some wild beast who could bite them at any time? It was really, really mean. She was a regular witch, after all, just like they were.

"I am fully in favour of taking this risk," Professor Mason said smoothly, "But it will only work as long as Harry remains in Slytherin. Therefore, I think we should formally put an end to the question of his sorting."

"Does that really matter now?" Evergreen asked, sounding annoyed.

"I'm afraid it does," Mason said, smiling apologetically. He turned to Harry and said, "Do you understand, Harry? In order to keep Ms. Lestrange at Hogwarts, you have agreed to take responsibility for her. That means you have to stay in Slytherin House permanently. Is that acceptable?"

Harry stared at the professor, thinking carefully. Honestly he hadn't even thought about changing houses for a while. He still didn't love being a Slytherin, nor did he care much for his fellow housemates, but it didn't bother him as much now as it did before. And the professor was right—he couldn't help Cleo much if he changed houses. So he did something that he never imagined, even a week ago, that he would ever do.

"I understand, sir," Harry Wiggins said slowly. "I will stay in Slytherin."

Professor Mason nodded, his expression carefully neutral. "That is good to hear. This plan might actually work, although I still see one major flaw. The girl seems to have the greatest difficulty at night, so how will Harry be able to help her at that time?"

"How indeed, unless special arrangements are made," the headmistress said casually.

No one spoke for quite a while, and Harry had to blink a few times to understand what the headmistress was saying. Just as he realized what she meant, Professor Evergreen took a step forward.

"That would hardly be proper, professor," Professor Evergreen said slowly, clearly reluctant to openly voice a dissenting opinion. "No student in Hogwarts history has ever roomed with a member of the opposite se-, I mean, gender."

"Really, Elmander, you didn't seem to have any problem when it came to bending the rules for your benefit," Professor Mason said, sounding angry for the first time.

"That is completely different," Professor Evergreen said angrily. "Eve is no harm to anyone."

"Please gentlemen," Headmistress Sprout said before Mason could reply. "Now is not the time for such bickering. We have never had a student quite like Ms. Lestrange before, so exceptions can be made in this case."

"But Headmistress…" Professor Dimock began, scandalized.

"The children are eleven years old, I hardly think we need to worry about any of that for a few years." There was no truer evidence of that than the fact Harry had no idea what 'issue' they were talking about. He was just excited… they were going to be roommates! Harry looked over at Cleo, who was still looking at the ground. Honestly, he was a bit sad that she didn't seem all that excited. Then again, Cleo didn't seem to get excited like most other kids. Maybe she was actually really excited right now, but was just doing it really, really quietly. Hopefully that was it.

"We can discuss this at greater length, but not tonight," Headmistress Sprout said firmly. "It is time to get these children back in bed, for it is quite late."

Clearwater, Dimock and Evergreen looked very much like they wished to discuss this more, but they nodded reluctantly and bid Harry and the headmistress goodnight. Harry couldn't help but notice, angrily, that none of them said a word to Cleo as they left. Why did everyone always have to be so afraid of her? She wasn't _that _scary.

Professor Mason nodded to the Headmistress before turning to Harry and saying, "If you two will follow me, I'll show you to your new dormitory. Your possessions will be waiting for you when you arrive."

"Goodnight, Harry," added Professor Sprout, "and goodnight Ms. Lestrange."

"Goodnight, Headmistress. T-thank you for, er, everything," Harry said awkwardly, unable to properly express his gratitude. She could have so easily decided that Cleo wasn't worth the trouble and just sent her home. No one would even have blamed her, since everyone secretly wished that Cleo would just go away and stop being a problem. She had really risked a lot to give Cleo another chance. She was putting so much faith in Harry that it rather scared him. He wasn't going to let her down.

Cleo didn't say goodnight, but she gave the Headmistress a subtle little nod… maybe, and followed wordlessly behind Harry and Professor Mason as they left the Headmistress's office. None of them said a word until they returned to the Slytherin common room and were let in by a very angry portrait of Professor Slughorn, who raged and ranted about manners and the lateness of the hour and so on. Harry was very tired at this point, and wanted to do nothing at all except go to bed. Unfortunately, there was one other person in Hogwarts Castle awaiting an explanation.

Atalanta Selwyn was pacing back and forth irritably, spinning her wand across her fingers to release her nervousness.

"Selwyn, you should be asleep," Professor Mason said sternly when he saw her.

"We should all be asleep," Atalanta replied, her eyes fixed on Cleo. "But alas something came up. You should be thanking me, actually, because if I hadn't made them go to bed the common room would be packed with students."

"And why are you still awake?" Professor Mason asked. He sounded rather amused.

"Well, there was no one left to threaten me and make me go to bed," Atalanta said with a casual shrug, "and I was worried." She glanced at Harry, and he could see the relief in her eyes. Her concern for him warmed his heart. So Atalanta did have real people feelings after all.

"I'm confused as to what she is still doing here, given that she was going to be expelled," Atalanta continued, looking at Cleo again.

"The headmistress has changed her mind." Professor Mason said.

"Why?"

"No reason that concerns you, Ms. Selwyn. Now off to bed. These two are going up to their dormitory."

"Their dormitory," Atalanta repeated neutrally, "now that is strange, isn't it, Professor?"

"Indeed it is. Actually, since you're awake, Selwyn, why don't you show them the way to the ninth boy's dormitory." Professor Mason said, and it almost seemed to Harry like there was some secret meaning in their conversation, something he didn't understand one bit.

"Very well," replied Atalanta, her green eyes flickering in the light of the dying fire. "Goodnight, Professor Mason."

"Goodnight, everyone." With that, Professor Mason turned and left the common room.

Atalanta led the way up the right hand staircase, taking no notice of Cleo as she walked beside Harry. "Does it hurt?" She asked quietly as they climbed the staircase. "It looks like it hurts."

"This?" Harry asked, waving his bandaged mummy arms. "Nah. The concussion you gave me doesn't help, though."

Harry didn't really expect Atalanta to apologize, that would have been rather out of character for her. Still, he was rather surprised when the older girl just laughed, clapping him on the back painfully. "You'll get used to it, Halo. A little pain is good for you."

"Ouch," was all Harry could say, and he refused to say anything else to Atalanta as she showed them to their new room on the third floor of the boy's dormitory. Only seven of the nine rooms were occupied at any given time, one for each year, and so it made sense that there would be extra space.

"Well, here you are, Halo. Go on in," Atalanta commanded. Harry walked inside immediately, not wanting to disobey her. Disobeying Atalanta tended to hurt. There were only two beds, one on each side of the room, and a lot of empty space. All of Harry's stuff was there, as were Cleo's belongings, which showed no ill effects from having been in the middle of a magical fire a few hours before. Whoever set this room up for us did a good job, Harry thought with a yawn. He was so ready for bed.

But Cleo did not follow Harry inside. Instead, Atalanta kept her outside. Harry had very sharp hearing, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to hear their exchange. No doubt Atalanta had planned on him not hearing it.

"I don't know what happened, Lestrange, and I don't really care. But you've gotten Halo involved in this now, and that worries me. I'm warning you, if anything happens to him, if he is hurt in any way, I will be _sure_ to kill you."

"If something happens to him," Cleo said, so quietly that Harry wasn't sure he was hearing her right, "I'll let you." Moments later Cleo shuffled into their new room and Harry tried really hard to look like he hadn't heard her. She looked at him briefly, her eyes dead and dark.

"Well, I guess this is it. Home sweet home," Harry said, smiling at her. Unsurprisingly, she didn't reply. Instead she just went over to her new bed, and sat down on it. They were both already in their pajamas, so they didn't have to worry about changing. But that was probably going to be a problem later. That must have been what the Professors were worried about.

"Well, uh, I guess we should try to go to sleep," Harry said, determined to keep talking, even in the face of complete silence. So what if Cleo never said a word? He would talk enough for the both of them!

"Halo?" Cleo asked suddenly, turning to look at him. Her eyes were sparkling, brighter than he had ever seen them. Except for when she was in a trance of course… but that was different. For the first time he could remember, Harry saw that Cleo's eyes were filled with hope… or was it joy? Same difference. "Thank you for saving me."

"I… er... um… I mean… we're even now," Harry managed to say, stumbling over his words like a drunk mouse running through an obstacle course. He didn't have an easy time with gratitude or stuff like that. It made him feel strange. "We… we should just go to bed. Goodnight, Cleo."

"Goodnight, Halo," Cleo said, lying back on her bed. "You know, I like that name better."

"Y-you do?"

"Mmhmm," Cleo said, closing her eyes. She looked so peaceful.

Harry thought long and hard, and the last thing he said before falling asleep was, "Me too."

And he meant it. Just like that, Halo was no longer that silly nickname his annoying sister had given him. If Cleo liked it better, well, that was good enough for him. Smiling faintly, Halo Wiggins fell asleep.


	22. Chapter 20 and a half

Chapter 20.5 Witches and Nargles

Lily was NOT happy. As a matter of fact, she was really, really mad. What was the word for that again? There had to be a word for it—a really good word for being sad and mad and scared and super angry—but she couldn't think of one. She would ask James about it when she saw him again. _If_ she ever saw her brother again.

Oxalion wasn't helping. The ghost snake had visited her dreams a bunch of times in the past few days, annoyingly reminding her what was at stake and asking if she had made any progress in saving the world. Of course she hadn't. She still didn't know what she should be doing, so how could she possibly have a plan? Lily was so frustrated that she could scream.

Then, of course, there was her daddy. Lily wasn't supposed to be awake in the middle of the night, she knew that, but she couldn't help it. Oxalion had been pestering her in her dreams again, so she had woken all nervous and sweaty and gross. She had gotten up to go to the bathroom, and that was when she had seen Daddy leave… in the middle of the night! He'd whispering something very quiet and secret-like to Mum and then just left, even though it was dark out and everything. Lily hid in the shadow of her doorway until Mum had gone back to bed. Her mother might be able to settle back down and go to sleep, but Lily certainly couldn't. She crept down the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible so Mum wouldn't catch her, and curled up on the couch downstairs, determined to stay awake and wait for Daddy to get back.

Lily didn't usually worry about Daddy, since she knew that he was the greatest, strongest, most awesome wizard who had ever lived. Everyone always said so. Whenever anyone met her, they always mentioned at some point or other what a great wizard her daddy was. So she wasn't worried, not really, but she was also not happy. Why would he leave in the middle of the night like this, and where was he going? Did it have anything to do with the dreams that Lily kept having? It had to be that… didn't it? _I mean, how many bad things can be happening in the world at once?_ Lily reasoned to herself. She tried her best to stay awake and worry straight through till morning, but she just couldn't. After only a few minutes, Lily fell asleep right then and there on the couch.

"Lily Luna Potter, what are you doing out of bed, young lady?" Demanded Daddy, whose voice woke her up quite suddenly. It was too bad, really, since for once she hadn't been dreaming about much of anything. She had dreamwalked so much in recent days that sometimes it felt like she didn't sleep at all. Lily yawned a big, loud yawn and sat up.

Daddy looked as tired as she felt and she wondered how late it was. "Three fourteen," murmured the clock on the wall sleepily as soon as Lily looked over at it. It was a really handy clock, enchanted to recite the time of day whenever someone looked at it and wondered what time it was. Lily was actually so used to it that she was sometimes surprised when regular clocks out in the muggle world didn't say anything. Lily was happy that she had been born a witch.

"I-I couldn't sleep," Lily said, but her words were slightly undermined by the fact that she yawned in the middle. "I was worried."

"Lily," Daddy said, sitting down beside his daughter to give her a reassuring smile, "There's nothing to worry about, honey."

"Don't say that," Lily snapped, surprising even herself. She was a good girl… or at least everyone said she was, and she didn't usually act out like this. Still, she was so frustrated by the stupid snake and his stupid future that she could do nothing about. Of course there was something wrong! "What were you doing?" Lily demanded. She knew she shouldn't be rude, that wasn't what good girls did, but she didn't care. She had to know.

Daddy frowned, running his fingers over the scar on his forehead as he looked at her. Daddy did that a lot when he didn't know what to say, but he didn't seem to notice he was doing it. Some daddies might get mad at their daughters for saying something like that, but not her daddy. Her daddy almost never got mad at her, and he always answered her questions. That was because he was the best daddy in the whole wide world. "I was at Hogwarts, Lily-Bean. There was something I needed to take care of."

"Oh," Lily said, feeling a bit silly. So it had nothing to do with her dreams. "What did they need you to do, Daddy?"

"There was, er, an accident with one of the students," Daddy said, still fiddling with his scar.

"Is he okay? And James and Albus, are they okay too? And what about Rosie and Victoire and Domi and…?" Lily had a lot of family members to be worried about.

"Yes, yes, everyone is fine, it was… it was just an accident," Daddy said. Lily couldn't be sure, but she almost thought that Daddy was trying to convince himself that it was true. "The girl should be alright moving forward. Hopefully."

Lily felt something tugging on her mind, as if a really, really important thought was trying to enter her brain. She blinked a few times, and then it clicked. Hogwarts! Oxalion had said that something important would happen at Hogwarts. Plus, he had said that she should be looking for unusual people at Hogwarts, and it sounded like she had found one. This girl… Lily wondered who she was.

"What girl, who is she?" Lily asked, trying to sound as innocent as she possibly could. It should have worked, people always told her things when she asked like that, but Daddy didn't fall for it.

"It doesn't matter, Lily," Daddy said firmly, standing up. "Nothing is wrong, and it's well past your bedtimes, young lady."

Lily protested and whined, she even pretended to cry for a little while, but none of it worked. Daddy ordered her to bed, and refused to answer any more of her questions, no matter how many times she asked them. It wasn't fair, she raged quietly to herself when she was back in her room, too upset to ever fall asleep. Why was Daddy keeping secrets, from her of all people? What did it all mean? What was going on at Hogwarts? Lily tried to stay awake and be angry and upset, she really did, but it was too hard. Ten minutes later, she was fast asleep.

Lily woke up in a very bad mood the following day, but for a few seconds she couldn't remember why. What had happened again? Then she remembered. Stupid Daddy and his stupid secrets. She wasn't going to forgive him… or Mum either. Not ever!

It was hard to stay mad at her parents when breakfast was served, especially since it was so delicious. But Lily persevered bravely, glaring daggers at both her parents between mouthfuls of delicious food. She didn't like eggs, since they were icky, but everything else was amazing. Mum was actually a pretty good cook these days, although she didn't usually have time for it. When Lily was really little, Mum had still been playing Quidditch for the Holyhead Harpies, and during the season she had almost never been around. Lily didn't really remember that time very well now, but she did remember her mother's cooking skills in her first few years after retiring. They were not good. The memory of those old meals helped Lily maintain her anger. How does someone burn oatmeal? That ought to be impossible, even for Mum.

"What's wrong Lily-Bean?" Mum asked eventually, noticing her daughter's angry looks. It was actually pretty obvious, considering that Lily was hunched over like a wild animal and was attacking her food as if it had been rude to her. Lily raged silently at the nickname. She bet that no one else had ever been called _bean_ by their silly parents. It was intolerable.

"Oh, nothing's wrong, right _Daddy_?" Lily asked waspishly, transferring her glare to him. After all, he deserved it more.

"What did you do, Harry?" Mum asked, sounding rather amused. Her tone annoyed Lily, and so she moved her glare back to her mother. Parents were the worst.

"I didn't do a thing," Daddy said, yawning loudly and ruffling his messy hair. "Our princess must not have gotten her beauty sleep." How dare Daddy deny his guilt? Raged Lily silently. The glare was back on him.

"Have you told Lily the good news, Harry?" Mum asked, smiling to herself.

Lily forgot, momentarily, to glare at anyone as she excitedly asked, "News, what news?"

"She's back from her trip," Daddy said, smiling at Lily.

"Who is? Who's back?" Lily asked sitting up straight. All thoughts of glaring at anything were forgotten. She had a guess, but she couldn't be sure. Could it really be…?

"Your Aunt Luna, of course," Daddy said, laughing and helping himself to more ham.

This was the best day ever.

It took for-EVER for Mum to get ready that morning. Daddy had to go to work, but he said that he would visit Luna later with Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron. Lily danced around the house impatiently for hours and hours, waiting for her mother to finish her writing so they could go visit Luna. Okay, maybe it was only one hour… but that was still a really long time. At last Mum was ready, and they travelled to Lily's favourite place in the whole wide world by Floo Powder.

No one was there to greet them when arrived, but that wasn't that unusual. The Lovegood House was empty much of the time, given how much time Luna and her husband, Uncle Rolf, spent travelling around the world. Luna's twin boys were way younger than Lily was, five or six… she could never remember, but they weren't around, either. Lily figured that if their father was out studying magical creatures, they would probably be with him. But Lily didn't spend too long thinking about any of them. She wanted to find Luna.

Mum and Lily found Luna Lovegood in her greenhouse, humming wordlessly to each of the plants in turn. It had been way too long, month and months, since Lily had seen her favourite Aunt. Well, Luna wasn't a real Aunt, of course, but that didn't matter. Not to Lily.

"Auntie Luna!" Lily squealed, running over and giving the woman a big hug.

"Oh, hello, Lily," Luna said, looking a little surprised to see her. But then, Auntie Luna always looked a bit surprised... about more or less everything. That was just how she was. "And Ginny. I am pleased to see both of you."

"Do you have a present for me? Do you, do you?" Lily asked excitedly. If it was anyone but Luna, this might have been considered rude behaviour. But Luna was different; she always had presents to give everyone.

"Yes I do, a very rare present in fact," Luna said, smiling her special Luna smile. Lily was so far beyond excited that the word didn't even apply to her state of mind. She would have to come up with a whole new word for what she was feeling. "And I'll give it to you as soon as I remember where I put it," Luna added with a puzzled look on her face, as if trying to remember where the present could have run off to. Lily sighed, trying not to feel too disappointed. That was always the problem with Luna's presents. They were always so amazing, like the meteor fragment she had given Lily for her seventh birthday, but half the time Luna completely forgot about what she'd brought for weeks or even months. Mum liked to say that Luna's mind was too busy chasing after other things. Lily didn't really know what that meant. She just wished she would get her present.

"So, er, did you find the… things you were looking for?" Mum asked, coming forward to give Luna a hug too. Her voice sounded a bit strained.

"Oh no," Luna said, shaking her head sadly. "You see, Golden-winged Folumphs are notoriously shy. They didn't come out when I tried to say hello. They just stayed in their volcanoes."

"My, that's a shame," Mum said with some difficulty. She was biting on her fist for some reason.

"Yes, isn't it?" Luna commented agreeably before gliding over to the other side of the room to see how those plants were faring. "You know, Rolf waters the plants while I'm away, but I don't think he ever sings to them. It is very important to sing to them, or else they get sad."

"They do?" Lily asked, looking at Luna in wide-eyed wonder.

"Oh yes," Auntie Luna said seriously, looking very concerned that no one had sung to her plants in such a long time.

"I'll help you, then!" Lily said brightly.

"You will? That is very nice of you," Luna said, beaming at the girl. Both of them turned expectantly to Ginny Potter, who was rather alarmed by this turn of events. She had heard her daughter sing before, and it was not a pleasant experience.

"Well, I'll go make tea, shall I?" Ginny asked, leaving the room before either of them could reply. She loved Luna and Lily as much as any two people in the entire world, but sometimes that meant knowing when to leave them alone. This was most certainly one of those times.

As Lily sang to each of the plants in turn, Auntie Luna alternated between singing and telling Lily all about her most recent travels. Lily listened in amazement as Luna talked told her about all the amazing things she had seen. It was all so amazing that Lily wondered, just a little bit, if it could possibly be all true. It just sounded too, well, amazing. But Luna wouldn't just make up stories like that… would she?

"It's so great to have you back, Auntie Luna!" Lily said, when they had finished singing to the last of the sad, lonely plants. They didn't look any different to Lily, but Auntie Luna assured her that the plants were now much happier. Lily sat on the floor, looking excitedly at the collection of rare stones that Luna had found on her most recent trip. Daddy said that Luna mostly studied magical creatures, but she also collected all sorts of other rare things from wherever she went. Her house was filled with more amazing things than any other place in the whole word, except maybe Hogwarts. "How long will you be staying before you leave again?" Lily tried not to sound too sad, but she couldn't help it. Auntie Luna always left, disappearing off on another adventure.

"Hm," Luna said, as if considering the question for the first time. "I don't know. Probably a few months, this time."

"R-really?" Lily asked, overjoyed.

"Oh yes, really," Luna confirmed airily. "I've been asked to write a book about my travels and all the wonderful creatures I have seen." Luna's bright smile changed momentarily to a little frown. "And Ginny was adamant that I stay at home and actually write the book instead of setting off to Nepal to track Yeti sightings." Luna shook her head in confusion, clearly unable to understand why she had to choose between the two.

"That's because if I don't keep you on track, the book has no chance of being published," Mum said, returning with tea for the three of them.

"Mum! You're helping Auntie Luna with her book?" Lily asked excitedly, eagerly dumping sugar into her tea. Tea was much too icky to drink without lots and lots of sugar.

"Well, it was my idea, after all," Mum said, smiling at Lily's excitement. "Plus, if Luna does it on her own, half of it will probably end up being written upside down, or in the form of a song."

Auntie Luna's eyes widened in excitement, as if she had never considered such wonderful possibilities before. "What if-"

"No," Mum replied with a sigh.

"Or-"

"No," Mum said, sipping her tea in a tired sort of way.

Auntie Luna blinked sadly at Mum, who refused to budge. Lily felt a rush of affection for her Aunt, and hurried over to give her a big hug. She glared at her mean old Mum, who never ever let anyone have any fun. Ginny didn't seem particularly upset by this. If anything, she found it hilarious.

"Luna, have you told Lily the news yet?" Mum said, and Lily immediately stopped her glaring.

"You mean about the sharp increase in migraine headaches caused by Nargle migration," Luna asked, her voice perfectly serious.

"Er, no, the other thing," Mum said.

"Is that really true?" Lily asked, confused. What were Nargles?

"Oh yes," Auntie Luna said solemnly. "If you aren't careful, invisible Nargles fly around your head and make your brain all fuzzy."

"That's not true…" Ginny tried to say, but it was too late.

"Oh no!" Lily wailed, clamping her hands over her ears.

"If it's not true, then why are they called 'migraines'," Luna said stubbornly. "It's obviously from Nargle migration."

Ginny sighed, deciding to give up the fight. "Lily, honey, it's okay. Luna keeps her house well protected from Nargles." Lily lowered her hands slowly, hardly daring to hope. She had been in danger all this time, and no one had told her? There could be Nargles anywhere!

"Anyways," continued Ginny, "the good news is that Luna will be starting her day care back up this year."

Lily squealed in delight, all thoughts of Nargles forgotten. Lily had used to go to Luna's day care sometimes when she was really, really young, and it had been just amazing. Luna wasn't usually home for very long, so it had been years and years since she'd done it.

"The first day is this afternoon. If you want to stay and help out your aunt," Mum said. Lily was too excited to respond with words. Of course she wanted to stay and help out. How could she not?

Lily worked hard the rest of the morning, helping Auntie Luna with whatever she needed. Mum helped out, too, and in a few hours the Lovegood house was cleared of much of its usual clutter and transformed into the world's most amazing day care. Mum said she had to get back to work, and left Lily alone with her aunt.

After lunch the kids arrived, most of them a lot younger than Lily. Everyone knows that five and six year olds have nothing at all in common with wise and more mature nine year olds. _It's like they're a different species_, Lily thought to herself as she played with a particularly adorable four-year-old boy named Caleb who liked to put all sorts of things in his mouth. She hadn't put anything in her mouth like that in _ages_.

There was only one girl who was almost as old as Lily was. She had short brown hair and a big smile, and took it upon herself to help Lily and Auntie Luna look after the younger kids. When they had finally gotten all the little ones set for nap time, the girl came over and introduced herself.

"Hi, my name is Eve, but most people call me Evey," the girl said smiling at Lily.

"Hi, Evey, I'm Lily."

"You're really good at this, Lily," Evey said in admiration, "Do you have younger brothers and sisters?"

"Oh, no, but I have a few younger cousins," Lily said, blushing at the praise. She always blushed whenever someone praised her.

"So, do we have to take a nap too?" Evey asked, as though horrified by the prospect. Lily just laughed and shook her head. "No, Auntie Luna wouldn't make us do anything like that. Let's play a game instead."

"Okay!" Evey said brightly.

"Let's see," Lily said, chewing on her fingernails the way she did when she was trying to think. "I know," she said excitedly, "let's play Witches and Nargles."

"What are Nargles?" Evey asked, confused.

"You mean you don't know?" Lily gasped, her eyes wide. She explained to Evey in great detail the horrors of the Nargle— the way they flew around invisibly and crept into your ears to eat your brain all up. Evey quickly agreed that she had never heard of anything as terrifying as a Nargle in her whole life.

"I call being a Nargle," Evey said, and Lily scowled in frustration. Darn it, she'd wanted to be a Nargle. "But don't worry," Evey added, flashing Lily an easy smile. "We'll take turns."

"OK!" Lily said happily, and immediately began running as fast as she could so the evil Nargle wouldn't catch her and eat her brain.

Just like that, Lily had a new best friend. She didn't really know very many other girls her age, except for all her cousins of course. It made her sad, mostly, because she just didn't understand why. Aunt Hermione had tried to explain it to her once—the fact that her father was so famous that most wizards viewed their entire family as special. She said they were kind of like celebrities, and that people always had a hard time treating celebrities, even children, as if they were just anyone else. But Lily didn't really understand it too well, at least not consciously. Still, she did know enough to introduce herself as Lily, not Lily Potter. People always got weird when she said her name was Lily Potter.

Evey was just the best, and at the end of the day Lily made her pinky swear that she would come back tomorrow and every day after that for as long as Luna ran her day care. Evey just laughed and made Lily swear that she would do the same. Lily said that of course she would.

"After all, Mum goes mad with me being in the house all the time," Lily said, smiling at her new best friend.

"Yeah my father does too, but only because he's so busy teaching," Evey said, shaking her head sadly. "The castle is so lonely, since I'm not really supposed to go explore anything."

"C-castle?" Lily asked. There's no way…

"I mean Hogwarts, of course," Evey said, laughing. "My dad teaches there, and everyone always calls him Professor Evergreen. It's not really supposed to happen, but this year I'm living there with him, since... since it's just Father and me." She seemed to get all sad. It passed quickly, though, and pretty soon Evey was smiling again. It seemed like it was impossible to keep her down for long.

"That's so amazing!" Lily said. She would give anything to live at Hogwarts.

"I know, why don't you come visit me sometime?" Evey said excitedly. "I know Father would let you, even though I'm not supposed to have any people over. I could show you all around and everything."

Lily stared at Evey, unable to believe what the girl had said. Could she really just visit Hogwarts, just like that? Evey waved goodbye and left, and only later did Lily remember how important it was for her to go to Hogwarts and try to figure out how to save the world. She was just so happy in the moment that the important, sad thoughts didn't come back until later.

At the time, all she thought was that this really was the best day.

EVER.


	23. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 Scrimgeour's Revenge

"What is _she_ still doing here?" Courtney asked, her voice sharing all the charming qualities of nails scrapping on a chalkboard. Halo sighed loudly and tried to convince himself, not for the first time (and likely not for the last), that it would be wrong to curse her into little bits. Cleo didn't show any reaction to Courtney's words or the accusing finger that the girl waved in her face. Her eyes were fixed on the ground, ignoring the other first-year Slytherins who had descended on them the moment he and Cleo had come down from their dormitory. "She tried to kill me!"

"No one tried to kill you, Stubbs, though I might if you don't shut up," Sam replied in a bored voice, no doubt wanting Courtney to be quiet so that she could think. She clearly was as stunned as the others that Cleo hadn't been expelled, but was trying not to show it. Sam wanted to know what had happened too, but she just wasn't as blatant about it as Courtney was. Of course, that wasn't saying much.

"Better tell us what's going on, or you'll regret it, Wiggins," Kevin said, threatening him because he couldn't think of anything else to do. Scorpius didn't say anything, but he kept glancing nervously at Cleo as if he was afraid that she was about to bite him or something. J.B. just watched the others quietly, his eyes bright with curiosity. He didn't smile at Halo as the two briefly made eye contact, and Halo wondered yet again what the boy's problem was. Not long ago, all this would have bothered Halo, but he forced himself to just ignore it. He had to do his best to be different from now on. Mr. Potter, the headmistress and all the others (even the Minister of Freaking Magic himself!) were counting on him, so he had to do his best to act like a grown up… even when he didn't have any real idea what that meant. One thing he had learned from Father, though, was that grownups were supposed to be patient with other people, no matter what they did. He figured that was a good place to start.

"It was just an accident, so everything's fine," Halo said, facing the others. "Right, Cleo?"

Six pairs of eyes fixed their gaze on Cleo, who looked uncomfortable now that everyone was staring at her. She gave a little nod that was really just a head jerk and let her hair fall over her face, as if that would somehow hide her. It didn't.

"How'd she manage to convince them it was just an accident?" J.B. asked. "I thought they'd chuck her out for sure. Slytherins don't usually get a lot of chances." He sounded bitter.

"They should have, she tried to kill me!" Courtney said, trying to get someone to share in her sense of injustice. No one did.

"This doesn't make any sense," Sam said quietly, her dark eyes burrowing into Halo. "There's something you're not telling us."

Well that was certainly true, Halo thought, thinking of Bellatrix and the Horcruxes and the way Cleo's eyes looked when they were in that weird trance. There was no way he was going to tell them about any of that, not after he promised Mr. Potter that he wouldn't. Of course, it wasn't like he had been dying to share everything that had happened the night before with his best friends the Slytherins. As Halo thought about what to do, Atalanta's words about not being so distant from everyone echoed in his mind. Why shouldn't he tell them at least a little what had happened? Keeping all sorts of thing secret didn't really seem to make things better for anyone. He understood why Mr. Potter, Hermione and Ron kept Bellatrix's Horcrux a secret, but that hadn't done anything good for Cleo, who had been completely isolated because of it. Halo might not be an adult, not by any stretch, but people were counting on him to be a leader and make his own decision now. He wanted to do the right thing.

"The Headmistress decided that what happened was an accident, because Cleo lost control of her power when she was asleep and didn't realize that she was just dreaming. She asked me to do my best and make sure it doesn't happen again and everybody will be ok. Also, the Ministry came and got involved and the Minister of Magic agreed to the plan even though not everybody liked it. Oh, and Harry Potter asked me to help Cleo too, so there's that."

The others all just stared at him. "Y-you made that up," Courtney stammered, her beady little eyes wide with shock. Apparently they weren't going to believe him, even when he tried to tell the truth. Halo sighed again and turned to Cleo, saying, "C'mon, let's go down to breakfast." Cleo didn't respond, but she followed him closely as he exited the Slytherin common room. After a moment, the other first years followed him as well.

The Great Hall was always loud in the mornings, especially on the weekends when students could spend as much time as they wanted joking, laughing or, in the Slytherins' case, glaring at each other darkly. It was a huge surprise therefore, when the Great Hall suddenly fell silent when Halo and Cleo entered, followed closely by the other Slytherin first years. Nearly every student at Hogwarts was staring at them, or rather at Cleo, and several of the younger students stood up to get a better view. Halo swallowed nervously and tried to make his legs move, but he was paralyzed under the weight of so many eyes. Then the muttering started. All at once, every student in the castle turned to their neighbour and shared their impressions of this strange, dangerous girl. Halo rather doubted anyone was saying anything positive. He wondered how everyone knew what had happened the night before. Had the Slytherins been busy telling the rest of school? It didn't seem likely that word of what happened the night before would have spread so quickly, but clearly it had.

Bad as it was for him, Halo could only imagine how bad this must be for Cleo. You wouldn't know just from looking at her, though, since she just stood there ignoring everyone like she usually did. But Halo noticed the way she clenched her fists tightly to her side, and she was definitely shaking. He wanted to make her feel better, but he had no idea what to do. There were just too many people staring at them.

"Come on, Simba," Sam said tersely, pinching Halo's arm painfully. "We should just go eat and ignore them. Those idiots will lose interest soon enough." She seemed thoroughly unconcerned that _those idiots_ in this case meant _everyone_. Halo forced himself to nod and follow her, as did all the others. Some leader he was turning out to be.

The murmuring died down a bit as they all sat down, but there were more than a few students who continued to stare at Cleo. Halo found he wasn't very hungry, and Cleo must have felt the same way because she had nothing to eat except a single piece of toast that she buttered with a fork. As he watched her, Halo remembered on the first day of classes when Cleo had said, almost in passing, that she didn't like knives. Boy was that an understatement.

As the others started eating, Atalanta rose from the far end of the Slytherin table and came over, nudging Scorpius aside with her skinny elbows so that she could sit beside Halo. Halo didn't much like the way everyone picked on the poor boy, but he didn't mention it to Atalanta. Starting a conversation with her on that foot was a very bad idea.

"Thought you should see this, Halo," Atalanta said, not bothering to say hello. She dropped the Saturday edition of the Daily Prophet in his lap. Halo looked at it blankly, wondering why she'd given it to him.

"Page five," Atalanta said patiently, or rather as patiently as she ever said anything. Halo picked up the paper and opened the paper, feeling very strange. He had always seen his Father read the paper like this, but he had never done it himself. Why were newspapers so big… and why were they so difficult to hold? The top left corner kept falling over, and Courtney laughed at him as he struggled to keep it straight, but not for long. One look from Atalanta was enough to shut her up quickly.

As he flipped through the Prophet, he was momentarily distracted by the familiar name of Ginny Potter. Halo wanted to stop and read her article, but he figured he better do that after doing whatever Atalanta wanted. He reluctantly flipped to page five. As he looked down at the paper, there was no longer any reason to ask anyone why Atalanta wanted him to read it.

_Secrets, Lies and Children in Danger at Hogwarts_

_Startling new evidence brings to light new dangers at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, writes Rita Skeeter, special correspondent for the Daily Prophet. Trouble has been ever present at the famed school since the days of Headmaster Dumbledore, whose numerous questionable decisions as headmaster are catalogued in The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, which was the Daily Prophet Must-Read Book of 1997. Such decisions, it seems, have not ended with him, with Headmistress Patilda Sprout adding to the alarming list of questionable decisions made at the school._

_Sprout, a stunted, bitter woman well past her prime, was appointed Headmistress in the fall of 2015. One school governor has confirmed that while there were many more qualified applicants, Sprout's long affiliation with the school, and the unbalanced former Headmaster Dumbledore in particular, won her the position. Now it seems that the headmistress has made a decision so reckless that it would have given even her hero Albus Dumbledore pause._

_Ministry sources have confirmed the presence of a mysterious first-year student by the name of Clytemnestra Lestrange. The girl's true origins are unknown, and many are uneasy about where this girl came from, and why she bears the family name of one of the most ruthless supporters of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named._

_"We cannot comment on the matter," said Cassius Scrimgeour, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, "Other than to say that the girl in question does exist and her name is Clytemnestra Lestrange."_

_Mr. Scrimgeour would also not comment on reports that there has been an alarming series of accidents in the Slytherin common room, which coincidentally is the house into which the Lestrange girl was sorted. Such accidents are not uncommon in Slytherin, which has a long history of violent association with the Dark Arts, but these occurrences are more sinister than most. One such incident occurred last night, when a girl's dormitory mysteriously caught fire. Sources indicate that dozens of students may have been injured, some critically. Hogwarts has denied that anyone has been injured, but many suspect that the school is hiding the truth. There have even been reports of students quietly being taken out of the school to be treated at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Top experts at the hospital have refused to comment on the situation, but they would not go so far as to deny them outright._

_Students themselves are uneasy, and many do not feel safe with the number of accidents being directly linked to the girl. "No one wants someone like her here," a school prefect shared when asked. "Many students don't feel safe."_

_"I just feel like there is a lot they aren't telling us," said one concerned parent, who is seriously considering pulling her daughter out of school. "I just don't feel that my daughter is safe."_

_While Patilda Sprout clearly seems unconcerned by this troubled, dangerous student walking around her school, it remains to be seen what course of action the school governors will take. Surely they have a duty to protect the students at the school, and to ensure that no student is hurt or killed in one of these questionable accidents._

Halo looked up when he was finished reading, and was a bit surprised to see the sides of the newspaper were crumpled from where his hands had clenched in anger. He hadn't even noticed that he was so angry, he had just been so shocked to see so many lies written right next to each other. How could this be happening? Who would want to…?

"Scrimgeour!" Halo hissed angrily, knowing the man was behind this. The fact that he was being quoted in the story wasn't an accident. How else would the reporter have even heard about this story so fast? This was his revenge. No one understood him except Cleo, who briefly turned to him. She looked at him curiously, her eyes pleading to know what was going on. Halo didn't want to tell her, but keeping the truth wouldn't actually help her at all. Without a word, he handed the paper to Cleo, who read it quickly. She didn't say anything as she read it, but Halo could see the light slowly leave her eyes, leaving them dark and dead. For that alone, he would never ever forgive this awful Skeeter woman… whoever she was.

"I'm guessing this is not what happened," Atalanta said, spearing a sausage with Halo's fork and nibbling on it.

"Nope, none of it." Halo said angrily "You would have heard if students were being smuggled out in body bags. I can't believe that they would print that stuff! No wonder everyone stared at us when we walked in."

"Figured as much. If a word of it was true, it would have been all over the front page." Atalanta sighed. "This bitch is just going after Slytherins, like everyone else. Don't worry, I won't let them come after the girl like this. Even if… well," She didn't finish by saying even if she deserves it, but the implication was clear. Halo glared at her angrily, but Atalanta just smiled, cuffed him on the head painfully and turned to go. "You look cute when you're angry, Halo, but if you don't watch yourself I'll have to teach you a lesson. Now eat something, before your sister starts complaining to me again. Honestly, if that harpy starts nagging me one more time I'll…" she wandered back to the other fifth-year Slytherins, mumbling to herself cheerfully about all the nasty curses she couldn't wait to use on Cassy. Halo knew that she was mostly kidding, so he didn't worry about it. At least, not all that much.

Kevin had gotten a copy of the Daily Prophet from his brother and was busy reading it while the other Slytherins hovered over his shoulder. Samantha snorted sceptically as read her way down the article, while J.B. looked as angry as he had the day he'd yelled at the Gryffindors. He seemed to be muttering to himself, and Halo thought the boy silently formed the word Scrimgeour with his mouth. He was saying it much the way Halo himself had said it—as a curse.

"J.B.?" Halo asked uncertainly, but the boy didn't respond. He got up and stormed out of the Great Hall, leaving behind his plate of ketchup and eggs. They watched him go, and as J.B. walked passed the Ravenclaw table Halo caught sight of Cassy staring over at him, her eyes wide and full of questions. Halo knew that if he didn't answer now, Atalanta would no longer be angriest, most dangerous girl in his life. With a sigh, he turned to Cleo and said, "C'mon, let's go meet my sister."

Cleo looked terrified about the prospect of walking anywhere and meeting anyone, but Halo smiled and offered his hand to her. After a long pause, she took his hand, rising reluctantly to her feet. "See you guys later," he mumbled to the other Slytherins, who blinked at him stupidly, shocked by what they were seeing. He and Cleo were both acting very differently today, but before any of them could ask a question, Clytemnestra and Harry were gone, heading over the Ravenclaw.

The murmuring started again as soon as Cleo moved, and all the eyes were back on her. Cassy understood her brother's intentions as only a sister could and met them halfway between their tables. She looked closely at the strange dark-haired girl behind her brother, but had no idea what to make of her. Everyone was watching them, and it was clearly bothering the two younger kids.

"Alright, let's get out of here," Cassy said quietly, much to Halo's relief. Halo nodded in agreement and turned to go, but before they could go anywhere they were joined by Rose and Albus, who had hurried over from the Gryffindor table when they saw Harry start to leave. "What's going on, Halo?" Albus asked, which was a bit unusual. Normally, Rose would have asked a few hundred questions before her cousin got the chance to open his mouth, but she was too busy staring at Cleo. Halo wished she would stop doing that.

"Um, I'll explain it all when we get out of here," Halo said, his eyes drawn to James Potter, who was looking at them with a strange look on his face. Halo figured that the boy was probably mad at him or Cleo over… something, who knows? He might just be worried for his brother and cousin, but Halo still found it annoying. After all, if it hadn't been for Cleo's choices in the castle all those years ago, James's father and uncle wouldn't be alive right now. But of course no one knew about any of that. To them, Cleo was just a monster. Halo sighed and led the way outside, where he could talk to the others without everyone in Hogwarts staring at them.

He led the way over to his favourite hill by the lake. They all sat down on the soft grass and he told them everything that had happened the night before… or rather everything he could tell them. Basically, he told them everything that Hermione and Mr. Potter had told the Headmistress, leaving out the stuff about the Horcruxes and Cleo killing her mother. He might tell them that stuff eventually, but not now.

"So is your arm okay?" Cassy asked her brother, who nodded quickly. Whatever Madame Abbott had done, it had worked wonders and he barely felt the burns at all. Still, Cassy was not willing to forgive so easily and glared angrily at Cleo. Even if it was some sort of weird accident, this girl had still hurt her little brother.

"I'm sorry," Cleo said, the first words she had said all this time. She looked up at Cassy, and she looked as miserable as Halo had ever seen her. "I won't hurt Halo again, I promise."

There was an awkward silence as the others tried to think of some sort of response to that. Cassy looked slightly mollified and nodded, saying, "Er, good. Don't." She winced at how stupid that sounded, and immediately tried to change the subject. Cassy hated sounding stupid. "Well, um, anyways, I guess that explains the story in the Prophet this morning. That Scrimgeour fellow must have been pissed."

"Scrimgeour is such a…" Halo said, trying to find a word that described exactly how he felt about the old man. He didn't know any words strong enough to express his anger. He would have to learn some. Rose nodded emphatically, finding her voice at last.

"My dad hates him too," Rose said, as though that settled the matter once and for all. "I think what he's trying to do is really unfair. Everyone should have the chance to go to school here if they want. Don't let those other people bother you, Clytemnestra, we won't let them kick you out. My name is Rose, by the way, Rose Weasley. I never properly introduced myself... sorry about that." She offered her hand to Cleo, who stared at Rose in wonder. Cleo shook it very briefly, before drawing back her hand self-consciously and dropping her eyes in embarrassment. Halo felt a rush of affection for Rose, grateful that someone at least was able to see Cleo for who she actually was. Then again, maybe it wasn't so surprising. After all, she had done the same thing for him. Cassy and Albus both looked awkward, but they introduced themselves to Cleo as well, who seemed overwhelmed that so many people were talking to her all at once. It clearly wasn't something that she was used to.

Halo smiled and looked across the grounds of Hogwarts Castle, feeling better than he had in days. He had friends here, who would stand by him no matter what happened. Let Scrimgeour and Rita Skeeter and whoever else came after Cleo. They weren't going to be able to hurt her—not if Halo had anything to say about it. Cleo had suffered enough.

As Halo looked out across the grounds and over to where the path led down through the hills to the village of Hogsmede, he saw J.B. standing with his feet in the lake. The boy was using his wand to send pebbles skipping a few dozen times across the surface of the lake before sinking into the water several hundred feet away. Using magic like this outside of lessons might get him in serious trouble, but J.B. was clearly too upset to care. Halo turned to his sister, who had also noticed the boy angrily blasting pebbles across the lake.

"You know him?" Cassy asked, eying the boy nervous.

"That's the Grant kid, isn't it?" Albus asked, using his hand to shade his eyes. "Looks like he has anger issues."

"I'm gonna go talk to him," Halo said, wondering what he could possibly say. Cassy just sighed to herself, knowing he was going to say that. As soon as her brother saw someone looking upset, he immediately wanted to help. Sometimes she wished he had more common sense. That Slytherin boy looked like trouble.

"Alright, we'll stay with Clytemnestra until you're done," Rose said, clearly trying to find a way to help. "Just be careful, okay? He doesn't look happy." Halo nodded vaguely, not really even hearing her. He was too focused on J.B.

"You don't have to keep me around if you don't want to," Cleo said quietly, not looking at anyone. It was the single saddest sentence Cassy had ever heard. "I was just going to go to the library."

"We'll go with you," Cassy said firmly, and Rose nodded in agreement. Albus Potter did not look quite as convinced, but he didn't disagree with them. This wasn't exactly how Cassy had imagined spending her Saturday, but she was willing to do it for her brother. This strange girl was clearly important to him, and she sounded so lonely that it broke Cassy's heart.

"See you later," Halo said, waving to the others and walking over to J.B. The boy looked up at him as he approached, scowled, and went back to blasting stones across the water. Halo didn't say anything as he joined the other boy in the shallow water, trying not to wince as the freezing water lapped around his ankles. He watched quietly as J.B. sent another stone skipping 60 times before falling into the lake. Halo wasn't exactly sure what he could say, so he just waited for J.B. to start talking.

"Do you know Cassius Scrimgeour?" J.B. asked suddenly. "It seemed like you did."

"Yeah, he's a terrible old man," Halo said, knowing instinctively that J.B. felt the same way.

"Yeah," J.B. agreed, blasting another stone across the lake. This one easily went twice as far. "Yeah he is. He destroyed my family."

Halo saw that J.B. had started crying, but he didn't know what to do. Before he could decide, J.B. started talking, the words coming out in a rush.

"I'm not saying my family's perfect, 'cause it's not. My mother had a lot of cousins who went bad and did terrible things to people. I'm related to the Notts, the Averys, the Selwyns and others, some of whom actually became Death Eaters. My grandpa, though, didn't want anything to do with hurting or killing anyone. Nonsense, he likes to call it."

"You're related to Atalanta?" Halo asked, amazed.

J.B. laughed, but there wasn't much humour in it. "We're all related in Slytherin. Courtney is my second cousin, and Atalanta Selwyn and Patrick Harper are my third cousins, I think. I'm probably related to half of Hogwarts somehow, even your new pal the crazy girl."

"Don't call her that," snapped Halo. It didn't matter that J.B. was upset and lashing out, no one should talk about Cleo like that.

"Whatever," J.B. said, sending another stone flying across the water. He was quiet for a while but soon enough he continued his story. "Anyways, my family is very old, pureblood almost all the way, but Granddad didn't much care about blood status._ A man's a man, J.B._, he always says,_ don't matter how you're born, it matters how you live_. Granddad is always saying things like that. My mum didn't care about any of that stuff either, because she fell in love with a muggle named John Grant and… had me." He sounded bitter

"My dad is a muggle too," Halo said, misunderstanding J.B.'s bitterness.

"But at least you know him. I never met my dad. He was some sort of muggle celebrity; an actor I think. My mum was mad about him, but he never loved her enough to marry her. I don't really know what happened, granddad doesn't talk about it much, but she came back home pregnant and alone. I was born a few months later, and my mum named me John after my father and Bartholomew after her father. My name is John Grant, just like my dad."

"Where is your dad now?" Halo asked. He tried to imagine what it would have been like to grow up without ever meeting his dad, but couldn't.

"He's dead," J.B. said harshly, trying to grab another stone to blast across the water. He was crying too heavily to see clearly, though, and wasn't able to pick one up.

"I-I'm sorry," Halo said in dismay.

"Yeah," J.B. said. Halo figured he'd probably heard I'm sorry enough times that the words didn't mean anything to him anymore. _I'm sorry_ didn't help. "It happened when I was about five. I don't really remember it. My mum had started seeing him again, or at least that was what Granddad said. I wouldn't know, my dad certainly never came by to see me. Then one day the muggle police found him dead in an alleyway, shot in the back. They said he and mum had a fight or something the night before, but then she had just left and gone home and read me a bedtime story. Still, there was nothing to prove that except my word, and no one is just going to believe a five-year-old boy. The muggles arrested her and asked all sort of questions, but they couldn't find anything, since she was innocent, and let her go. Then the Ministry came. They seemed to think she'd done it. Cassius Scrimgeour used his influence to get her arrested and put her on trial. They couldn't prove she did anything wrong, but apparently they didn't need to. She came from a family of dark wizards, and that was enough to convince everyone that she must have killed my muggle father. So even though they couldn't prove a thing, my mum was sent to Azkaban. Thanks to Scrimgeour, I don't see her much. Twice a year, if I'm lucky."

Halo's mind was reeling, trying to make sense of it all. Part of his mind wanted to believe that it wasn't true, that it had all been some sort of misunderstanding, but he knew it wasn't. Halo had seen what people like Scrimgeour did to people whose only crime had been to be born into the wrong family. The Ministry of Magic was supposed to help people and keep everyone safe from Dark Wizards who wanted to hurt innocent people. But Halo knew that the Ministry was doing bad things to people like Cleo and J.B.'s mum and who knew how many other people. Why didn't the Minister and Harry Potter and Hermione and everyone put a stop to this? Why were they allowing bad things to happen?

If this were a bedtime story, everyone would know who those bad people were and they would never be allowed to work in the Ministry. They would all be horrible and crazy like Bellatrix Lestrange, and they would get what was coming to them. Halo had always thought that they would be the Slytherins, and they would lose to the Gryffindors and all the other good guys. But apparently that wasn't how the world worked at the all. Things weren't nearly that simple, there were bad people born into good families and good people born into bad families.

It looked like the bad guys weren't as obvious as the storybooks said.

Maybe the good guys weren't either.

Not knowing what else to do, Halo just bent down and picked up a stone and handed it to J.B., who blasted it clear across to the far side of the lake.


	24. Chapter 22

Chapter 22 A Good Bit of Bad Advice

September passed slowly into October, and for the first time Halo was truly happy at Hogwarts. He was done hating the fact that the Sorting Hat had put him into Slytherin. After all, he had made the choice to stay, so he might as well make the best of it. He found that once he started looking at everything from the positive side, things just didn't seem so bad. It didn't matter that Cleo was still the only first year who Halo considered a friend, and it didn't matter she wasn't exactly talkative. Mostly when they sat in the common room together in the armchairs on the ledge that extended out under the lake, they either worked in silence or Halo did all the talking. After all, that was just how Cleo was.

Halo still didn't get on very well with Courtney or Kevin, but Sam, Scorpius and J.B. were perfectly nice to him most of the time. J.B. didn't mention their conversation by the lake, but his hostility towards Halo seemed to have vanished. Halo was nervous about the way J.B. sometimes looked over at the Gryffindor table with a hard, angry look in his eye, but so far the boy hadn't done or said anything to them. Halo hoped everything would be okay.

He'd been beyond excited to use his magic again, since it was something he'd avoided doing since his first Defence Against the Dark Arts class because he didn't want to lose control and hurt anyone. That first Charms class had been a huge let-down, though, because no matter how many times he tried, Halo couldn't manage to cast a successful levitation charm.

"Don't worry, Harry," Professor Dimock had said, smiling encouragingly as he failed to accomplish much of anything with his twisted sycomore wand. "If you keep practicing you'll get it in no time!"

Halo had just scowled at her, and he had been in a very bad mood the rest of the day. Hermione had said that his magic was special, so why was he having so much trouble with such a simple charm? It didn't make any sense… unless Hermione had been wrong. Halo had never really wanted to be special, but it sure had been a nice feeling when everything came so easily. These stupid charms weren't easy, and it annoyed him. Halo wondered if that made him a bad person, and decided not to tell anyone how he was feeling. He didn't want to disappoint Cassy or Atalanta or anyone else, especially Cleo.

Transfiguration was a different story. In that class, at least, everything did come naturally. They were practicing minor changes like changing quilts with black and white stripes to quilts with red and blue stripes, just to get the feel for how magic could change inanimate objects. Halo found it all really easy, since he could always do whatever changes Professor Mason wanted on the first try. Sometimes, in fact, he even did it too well.

"You're supposed to be turning your pillow blue, Wiggins, not your desk," Professor Mason said in the middle of one such class in which Halo had accidentally transfigured too well. He didn't sound upset. If anything, Halo thought Professor Mason sounded amused and rather pleased. "No matter, five points to Slytherin for some truly impressive transfiguration, especially from someone so young." The Ravenclaws in the classes all glared at him, hating the way that they were upstaged in every class. Halo smiled apologetically, but it didn't really help. Courtney and Kevin glared at him too, but that was hardly unusual. Cleo, though, touched his bright blue desk as if she were curious to see if it felt any different before turning to him and smiling faintly. That was good enough for him.

His other classes were much the same as they had been, and that meant that Herbology was quickly becoming Halo's least favourite class. Try as he might, Professor Longbottom didn't seem able to look at Cleo without getting an angry look in his eye. Halo knew that it wasn't really the Professor's fault, but in the end he was doing the same thing that Scrimgeour was doing—punishing Cleo for things that her mother had done. It just wasn't fair. After every class, Cleo told him quietly that he didn't have to sit with her. Every class, Halo ignored her.

And so Halo and Cleo always sat alone at the far table in Herbology, because none of the other Slytherins would sit with them. Sam said that she had learned her lesson that day with the flubberworms, and refused to be anywhere near Cleo during that class, afraid that something similar might happen again. Sure enough, Professor Longbottom always gave them the worst jobs, from sifting through fertilizer to removing Areachnia eggs from the stocks of Malaysian Spellwood. Professor Longbottom always gave Halo a guilty, apologetic look as he assigned them their various terrible tasks that no one else wanted to do, but class after class he kept doing it. Halo wanted to protest, but a look from Cleo always stopped him. She didn't want to make any trouble, even when she was being treated unfairly.

One rainy afternoon in early October, Halo and Cleo's table were given the thoroughly unenjoyable task of feeding the Bavarian Tunnelroot, which ate worms rather than getting its nutrients from the sun or the soil. Halo had absolutely no idea what uses the Bavarian Tunnelroot had, and frankly he didn't care. Whatever it was, he doubted it was worth the trouble of feeding it.

They had just begun their latest unpleasant task when Sora stood up from one of the Hufflepuff tables and made his way over to them, sitting down beside Halo. The whole classroom was silent, every student staring back and forth between Professor Longbottom and Sora. Halo, for his part, stared at Sora in disbelief, wondering what was going on. They didn't really talk much since the first day, and so this was a bit… er, completely unexpected.

"Why have you changed seats, Takahashi?" Professor Longbottom asked, frowning at Sora.

"I thought that it seemed unfair that some students were assigned different tasks, Sir," Sora said, gazing steadily at the Professor. "I would be happy to assist them, since their task is more difficult than the one my table was assigned. To do otherwise would be unfair." Everyone watched breathlessly, wondering what was going to happen next. Would the professor let him get away with saying something like that?

Halo looked over at Sam, pleading with his warm brown eyes as hard as he could plead. Sam glared at him, but after a few seconds she got up too and sat down at their table, pointedly refusing to look at Sora. "Yeah, what he said," Sam said, gesturing vaguely in Sora's direction, "fair treatment and all that stuff."

Professor Longbottom seemed to struggle with something, and turning to Halo he asked suddenly, "And what about you, Harry? Do you think I am treating you unfairly?" Halo was so surprised that for a few seconds he had no idea what to say. The obvious answer was _yes_, but there was something strange in the way that the professor asked the question. After all, since when did a professor ask a student stuff like this? Why was he special?

"Yes, Professor, I do," Halo said quietly, refusing to look at Cleo. He knew that she didn't want him to say stuff like that, even when it was true. But he felt like he had to say what he really felt. Plus, she had been through enough. "Every student should be treated the same, regardless of… regardless."

Professor Longbottom sighed heavily, and walking to his desk he wrote a quick note. "Harry, please take this note to Professor Evergreen. The rest of you can go. We are ending early today." Stunned silence greeted his words, but that didn't last long. Getting out of class early, whatever the reason, was a dream come true. The Hufflepuffs and Slytherins raced out of the classroom cheering, except for Cleo, who glared at Halo angrily before turning to follow the others.

"Am I in trouble, Sir?" Halo asked wondering what was going on and trying to get the image of Cleo glaring at him out if his head.

"No," Professor Longbottom said, looking very sad, "You are right."

With that, the Professor sent Halo off to find Professor Evergreen's office, folded note in hand.

Halo had never been to Professor Evergreen's office before, and he only had a vague idea of where it was. He wandered in the general direction of the Gryffindor common room, fairly sure that the Professor's office would be close by. After walking around in circles for nearly five minutes, Halo was forced to admit he had no idea where to go and he ought to ask for directions.

"Excuse me," Halo said politely, stepping up to a nearby portrait of a thin old man sitting behind a long, oddly-shaped table that was covered with a number of strange magical devices whose function were a complete mystery to Halo.

"Who, where, what?" Wheezed the old man, looking up suddenly and trying to hide whatever he was writing behind his back. "Who sent you? What do they want?"

"Um, no one sent me," Halo said, wondering if he should just give it up for a bad job and ask a different portrait. "I just wanted to know where the Head of Gryffindor House's office was."

"Why?" The portrait asked, eyeing Halo with a look that was both nervous and suspicious. "Are you going to report on me? You are, aren't you?"

Halo didn't bother to reply, he just sighed and turned to go look for a portrait who wasn't barking mad.

"I'm telling you, my research is sanctioned by Headmaster Black himself… you can ask him!" The portrait shouted after Halo, who really wasn't interested. "Alright, I admit it," shouted the portrait desperately as Halo continued to ignore him. "I'm not supposed to be looking into blood magic, but I didn't mean any harm. It was research, just research."

"Look, I'm not going to report you for… whatever you're doing," Halo said, turning back to face the portrait. The portrait sighed with relief, and Halo found himself wondering what the strange man's story was. He knew he ought to keep going, but his curiosity got the better of him and he glanced at the plaque beneath the portrait.

Grayson Vance  
1811-1904  
Magical Theorist and Professor  
Died in a Tragic Accident on December 22, 1904

Well, tragic accident sure sounded interesting. Halo looked up to ask the man how he died, but the portrait was no longer paying him any attention. The old man was muttering to himself, and scribbling furiously on his piece of paper. "Just a little more, it should be ready then. Yes, yes, the last week of December. Then they'll all see… who'll be laughing then, I wonder? Washed up indeed! I'll show them all. I'll-"

Halo walked away shaking his head, figuring he should have known better than to try and get help from a Hogwarts portrait. Cassy had always said that they were completely useless when it came to advice. Now how was he going to find…?

"Ah, young Master Harry," said the ghostly voice of Sir Nicholas, who floated serenely down from the ceiling. "You are doing well I trust?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Sir Nicholas," Halo said without much enthusiasm. Sure, he needed help, but he still didn't much care for ghosts. "Actually I was looking for Professor Evergreen's office. I don't really have any idea where it is."

"Ah, well in that case you're in luck," Sir Nicholas said, head wobbling ominously. "I would be happy to show you the way."

Halo shrugged and pretended to be excited as he followed the ghost slowly though the hallways, listening to all manner of uninteresting things from Sir Nicholas's tragic love life to fond memories of how things used to work in _his day_. Halo pretended to be interested, but in truth he didn't really listen to a word of it until the end.

"I must say, it's nice of you to pay her a visit. She gets very lonely being all by herself all the time," said Sir Nicholas, nodding his head in approval. As always, his head moved around sickeningly.

"Er, what?" Halo asked, having absolutely no idea what the ghost was talking about. Sir Nicholas just smiled knowingly, and didn't reply as they walked on in silence.

"Well, here you are," Sir Nicholas said, indicating the door at the end of the corridor. "Tell her that Sir Nicholas sends his regards." Before Halo could reply, Sir Nicholas slipped casually through a nearby wall and was gone. Halo shook his head to clear it and wondered why everyone around him was acting so strangely. It must just be one of those days.

Halo knocked on the door of Professor Evergreen's office, and for a while there was no answer. Halo was about to give up and look for the professor in the staff room when he heard a little sniffle and the door suddenly opened, revealing a little girl with short brown hair. She was a few years younger than Halo, and she looked up at him with big watery eyes. It was clear that she had just been crying.

"Yes?" The girl asked, wiping her eyes.

"A-are you ok?" Halo asked. It was the first question that popped into his head, as natural to him as breathing.

The girl stared at him, probably wondering who he was and what he was doing here. "Did Father send you to check on me?" The girl asked, confused.

"Uh, no. I have a message for Professor Evergreen, and a ghost said that this was his office," Halo said, feeling rather silly.

"Oh, okay," the girl said, sounding a bit sad. "You can leave it on Father's desk." She scurried away from the door and out of sight.

"Wait!" Halo called as he followed the girl inside, feeling uncomfortable that the girl was so sad. He really hated it when people were sad like that, and he wanted to cheer them up. The girl didn't stop, rushing through the office to another room separated by a large door. She left the door open, and Halo followed her inside. It was a small room, complete with a little bed and lots and lots of pink. "Um, what's your name?" Halo asked the girl, who was watching him closely. "Mine's Harry, but people call me Halo."

"I'm Eve Evergreen, but people call me Evey," the girl said, sitting cross-legged on the bed, clutching a stuffed animal close to her chest.

"Do you live here?" Halo asked, staring around at all the pink. It was a bit of a silly question, since the answer was obviously yes.

Evey nodded, holding her stuffed animal so tightly that she surely would have suffocated it if it were alive. It was a good thing it wasn't. Halo realized suddenly that Evey must be the _she_ that Sir Nicholas was talking about. She certainly looked lonely.

"Uh, Sir Nicholas says hello," Halo said, trying to think of a way to make the girl feel better.

"You mean Nearly Headless Nick?" Evey asked, giggling. She smiled slightly, looking much more cheerful.

"Do people call him that? I don't think he likes that name very much," Halo said, smiling back at her. He couldn't wait to use it.

"Well, of course not," Evey said as if it were the most obvious thing in the whole wide world. "Who would want to be called that?"

Halo and Evey both laughed, and the girl looked much better. She had a big smile, which suited her much better.

"A-are you really Harry Wiggins, the one everyone keeps talking about?" Evey asked, after a pause.

"Uh, I guess," Halo said, feeling strange. Everyone was talking about him? That wasn't good. "Who's talking about me?"

"I don't know," Evey said, biting her nails and refusing to look at him, "no one."

"Liar," Halo said. Evey glared at him, deeply offended, and threw the stuffed fox that she had been holding. She hit him in the head, which didn't really hurt, and cackled in triumph. Evey regret it a moment later, though, when he didn't return it to her.

"Give Morgan back!" Evey said, jumping off the bed to rescue her captured ally. Halo calmly held the stuffed fox out of her reach, ignoring her howls of protest. "Not until you tell me who's been talking about me," Halo said.

Evey blew her bangs out of her face in frustration and said, "Fine! I heard Father talking to someone in his office, another professor I think. He was talking about Harry Wiggins, which I guess is you. I wasn't supposed to be listening, but I couldn't help it." She bit her nails again, which Halo figured was a pretty obvious sign that she was lying about the _couldn't help it_ part.

"What did your father say?" Halo asked, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt. The thought that people were discussing him behind his back made him uncomfortable.

"I don't know, can't remember," Evey said, her eyes stubbornly fixed on her stuffed fox—Morrigan or whatever its name was. Halo handed the thing back to her, hardly able to believe that a little girl could be such a stubborn negotiator. She must drive her father crazy.

Evey did a quick inspection of Morgan, and after making sure that the evil boy hadn't done any serious damage she took pity on him and decided to tell him what she knew. After all, he wasn't so bad… for a boy.

"Father said something to Professor Whoever about keeping an eye on you," Evey said, "Something about you being special. Father also said that they had to be careful about you."

Halo didn't respond; he was too busy feeling upset. So the professors were afraid of him after all. So far nothing had gone wrong with his power, but Evergreen at least seemed to think it was only a matter of time. Was that why Professor Longbottom had sent him here? Halo looked at the folded note in his hand, wondering what it said. Before he could think about it too much, though, Evey interrupted his thinking.

"Are you?" Evey asked loudly, watching him closely as if expecting something crazy to happen.

"Am I what?"

"Are you special?"

"Uh, I guess."

Evey frowned at him, clearly having doubts about that. Halo was really tired of talking about this, so he changed the subject. "Why were you crying?" He asked. Even though Evey was starting to be a little annoying, he still wanted to help her if he could.

"I wasn't crying," Evey said, immediately biting on her thumbnail. "I'm not a little girl."

Halo knew that neither of those things was true, and so he just waited. She'd tell the truth eventually.

"It's just that Father… he won't let… he said that my friend can't visit me!" Evey said, stamping her foot in frustration. "I hate being here all alone, but he still said she can't come. I-I hate him." She flung herself back on the bed and squeezed Morgan so tight that Halo was again thankful it wasn't a real fox.

Halo thought back to how it had been in the weeks right after his sister had first started at Hogwarts. He had been so angry and frustrated, wishing she were around. Poor Evey must have it even worst, stuck here all alone. People weren't really supposed to visit Hogwarts, it was a secret school after all, but it just seemed wrong that her friend couldn't visit her.

"Just keep asking your Father, and I'm sure he'll change his mind," Halo said, earning him a sceptical look from Evey. She knew her father better than he did.

"And if he doesn't," Halo continued, determined to cheer her up. "You can always sneak your friend in with Floo Powder!" He meant it as a joke, and was relieved when Evey smiled. Unfortunately, he didn't know her well enough to know what was going to happen next. Evey gave him a big smile, took Professor Longbottom's note with the promise to give it to her father as soon as he got back, and said goodbye to Halo. As soon as he left, plans began forming in her mind, each one more daring than the last. Eve Evergreen smiled to herself, grabbed a pencil and paper, and got down to business.

There is nothing in this world more dangerous than a determined nine-year old... especially a witch.


	25. Chapter 23

Chapter 23 Rule Breakers

A few days passed, and Halo barely thought of his conversation with Evey at all. After all, he had more than enough to occupy his time. His classes were getting more and more difficult, and he was still struggling with charms. An owl came on Friday morning during breakfast, stopping right in front of him and clicking its beak-thing impatiently as it waited for him to untie the note from its leg. Halo couldn't bring himself to put his hands anywhere near the bird, and after a moment Sam made an impatient noise and undid the note for him, handing it over with a scornful look.

"Man up, Simba," she said, shaking her head in disgust. "There's no reason to be afraid of owls."

"I'm not afraid of them…" Halo tried to say, but no one believed him. Cleo gave him a quick, sympathetic look from the other side of the table before dropping her eyes to stare intently at her oatmeal. Halo scowled and decided to ignore the others and just read the letter, which was from Hermione.

_I will be coming by the school this afternoon for our first meeting to check on the progress of your magical abilities. Unfortunately, that means that you will be missing your flying lesson this afternoon. Meet me outside the staff room at 2pm._

_Best Wishes, Hermione Weasley_

Halo had been waiting for a while for her to come check on his progress, so he wasn't really surprised. The only strange thing was the part about the flying lesson. They didn't have flying lessons.

"Hey, are we starting Flying Class today?" Halo asked, looking up at the others. Stunned silence was the only reply he got. Scorpius nosily read Hermione's letter over his shoulder and immediately sprang to his feet, hurrying over to the staff table to ask Professor Mason that very question. The others watching him go, a little surprised by the excited look in his eye. Scorpius was almost always too scared to be excited about much of anything. He came racing back not a minute later with a big smile on his face, and everyone knew that meant yes. For the rest of the morning, the Slytherin first-years talked of little else.

The biggest shock of the day came in Herbology, where they were greeted by the cheerful voice of Headmistress Sprout instead of Professor Longbottom. The students exchanged surprised looks as they came in and sat down, wondering what was going on.

"Professor Longbottom has requested that I take over this class, something I am quite happy to do," Headmistress announced after everyone had arrived. She didn't give a reason, but she looked momentarily over at Halo and Cleo's table, and Halo realized what Professor Longbottom must have written in that letter to Evergreen. He must have recused himself from teaching this class. Evergreen was the deputy headmaster, so he could certainly make it happen. Halo felt guilty and a little bit sad that it had come to this, but at the same time he couldn't help being a little relieved. If he never saw another flubberworm for the rest of his life, he would be happy.

Herbology was very enjoyable, and pretty soon Halo didn't feel even a little guilty. Even Cleo looked happier than usual, although she obviously didn't say so. She had been quiet since their last Herbology class—more than normal, but she no longer seemed to be mad at him for what he had said to Professor Longbottom. That was a relief, and not only because Halo hated it when people were upset with him, especially his friends. There was also the fact that Cleo seemed to have so many enemies that she could sure use a friend or two.

Nearly everyone else at the school, with the exception of Rose, Albus and Cassy, still treated Cleo as if she were dangerous, muttering as she walked through the halls. Sometimes, someone would even yell at her as she walked by, calling her a monster or freak. Sometimes… sometimes they said worse things, and Halo always wanted to turn around and make whoever said it apologize. First year, seventh year, he didn't care; he wanted to make them pay. But Cleo would always catch his eye and just shake her head, and Halo would force himself to keep walking.

Somehow, Cleo just ignored it all. She always pretended that it didn't affect her, but Halo could tell that it did, and whenever anyone said something terrible to her she would say even less than usual for the rest of the day. Halo hated when she got like that, and it happened far too often.

Halo tried not to feel too disappointed as he waved goodbye to the others and made his way over to the staff room and they headed out to the Quidditch Field. Cleo was the only one who didn't look delighted at the prospect of getting on a broomstick. She had probably never been near one, and did not look like she wanted to start now. Halo tried to give her a reassuring smile, but she didn't look at him. Maybe she was still mad at him after all. Sighing a little, he turned away and went to go find Hermione.

Hermione smiled as she met him in the hallway on the way to the staff room and she ushered him into a nearby empty classroom. She asked him how his classes were going, and was unsurprised to hear that Charms was not going well. She nodded to herself knowingly, which was quite annoying.

"Are you going to tell me why I can't seem to do any of the stupid charms," Halo said moodily, picking at the peeling corner of the wooden desk he was sitting at. He didn't care that he sounded like a spoiled child. His stupid charms problem was frustrating.

"Well, simply put, charms are very complex spells that use a limited amount of energy to accomplish specific tasks," Hermione said, looking delighted to be explaining something to someone. Halo nodded, remembering that from his first DATDA class. "Charms aren't so much about magic power, but rather precise wand movements and proper wording and pronunciation. Therefore, your extra magical ability doesn't give any special advantage over anyone else, except maybe that you can perform high level charms that others couldn't manage at your age."

"So I won't ever be good at charms?" Halo asked, feeling disappointed.

"Not at all, Harry," Hermione said, shaking her head. "All you need to do is apply yourself! With hard work, some extra reading and blah blah blah…"

Halo stopped listening, and focused instead on making sure he kept his eyes from rolling. Whatever Hermione might say, the answer sure sounded like a _yes_ to him. Hermione didn't seem to understand that not everyone could just read extra books about… everything. Halo found it hard to believe that Rose was really her daughter, since she was more or less the laziest person he had ever met. Sure, Rose was smart… very smart in fact, but she hated doing extra work. Then again, maybe Rose just took after her Father. Halo wondered if Ron was like that. Probably.

"Why isn't Mrs. Potter here?" Halo asked when Hermione was finished with her lecture on good planning. "I thought she was going to help you monitor my progress."

"She was planning to, but something… came up at the Prophet," Hermione said, her eyes flashing in anger. Halo had never seen her upset like this. It was kind of scary.

"Do you mean the article by the Skeeter woman?" Halo asked quietly.

"So you read it?" Hermione asked, sounding concerned. "What am I saying, this is Hogwarts, of course you read what that _cow_ wrote. H-how is the Lestrange girl holding up?"

"Cleo is fine," Halo said, feeling a little annoyed. Why did everyone always call her the girl or the Lestrange girl? He didn't like it, not one bit, but he didn't want Hermione to know that he was upset, so he quickly asked another question. "But, um, it seems like you don't like Rita Skeeter very much."

"Well, you see the kind of garbage she writes," Hermione said, growling like an angry cat. "When I was at school, she tried to do the same thing to Harry, but I managed to sort her out." She smiled at the memory.

"What did you do?" Halo asked, looking at her in amazement. He had never guessed that Hermione of all people could get so worked up.

"Well, turns out that she was an unregistered animagus, and I managed to catch her. All I had to do was threaten to tell the Ministry if she didn't stop writing those nasty lies."

"She was a what?" Halo asked. He'd never heard of an ani-whatever before.

"An animagus is someone who can transform themselves into an animal. It's very difficult, and so they need to register with the Ministry." Hermione had gone back to full explanation mode. Halo hadn't been this excited since he had seen Harry Potter's invisibility cloak. Imagine being able to turn into a freaking animal! He had other concerns, though, at present.

"Then why can't you stop her now?" Halo demanded. "She's still saying all sorts of bad stuff!"

"I know," Hermione said with a sigh, "but unfortunately she registered herself as an animagus a few years ago. There's no way I can prove that she was unregistered for all those years. If I could, believe me I would. Ginny is still furious with me for not getting rid of her while I had the chance."

Halo shook his head, disappointed once again that the bad guys got to just go on being bad guys while people like Cleo who had done nothing wrong were hated instead of them. It wasn't right.

Hermione seemed to know what he was thinking, because she smiled at him and put her hand on his shoulder. "I know it just doesn't seem right, but in the real world things just aren't as simple as right and wrong. You've seen that for yourself, haven't you Harry."

Halo didn't know what to say, so he just shook his head to clear it and stared at his feet. He knew she was right, but it didn't make him feel any better. Things weren't supposed to be like this. The world was just so unfair. Why… why didn't anyone make it fair?

"I know what will cheer you up," Hermione said when Halo didn't say anything. He looked up at her, very sceptical indeed that she knew anything of the kind. She handed him a big bar of chocolate from Weasley Wizard Wheezes that was shaped like the cartoon head of Harry Potter. It did, in fact, cheer him up.

They talked about his classes for a while longer, and then Halo walked with Hermione back to Professor Evergreen's office, which was apparently the only fireplace in the whole school that was connected to the Floo Network. Hermione explained in exhaustive detail the various rules and regulations regarding transport in and out of Hogwarts. Halo didn't even try to listen for long, since all he needed to know was said at the very beginning. He was tempted to tell her that saying _because he is the deputy headmaster_ would have been good enough, but he wisely remained silent. Halo, even at his young age, could tell that it was a bad idea to say things like that to Hermione Weasley.

As they neared the office, Halo began to get a strange feeling that something wasn't right. He couldn't tell what it was at first, but after a while he realized that his wand was vibrating slightly in his pocket. He was about to tell Hermione about it when they arrived at Professor Evergreen's office, and the words died on his tongue.

The office was a complete mess. Ash was everywhere, and it looked as though all the ash that had ever collected at the bottom of that poor fireplace had been blasted onto the walls. In the middle of it all stood two girls, both of whom were so covered with the stuff that Halo couldn't tell who they were. No, wait, he recognized the big, evil smile on the shorter girl. Evey turned to him with a mad twinkle in her eye and said, "Just the person I wanted to see. There you go, Lily, that's the special boy you wanted to find."

The other girl, whose name must be Lily, didn't as much as look at Halo. She was staring at Hermione with a look of terror on her face, as if someone had caught her doing something very, very bad. That was, of course, exactly what had happened.

"Lily Luna Potter," Hermione said in a strained voice that barely worked its way through the shock. "What in Merlin's name are you _doing_ here?"

Lily came forward slowly, approaching her aunt with an appropriately guilty expression on her face. Halo watched her with great interest, knowing that she must be James and Albus's younger sister. What _was_ she doing here? He was confused for a second, but when he looked back and forth between Lily, Evey and the fireplace that seemed to have vomited ash all over the room. Comprehension and horror dawned on him, and Halo clapped his hand over his mouth. Evey had known that he'd just been joking… hadn't she?

"I'm sorry, Auntie Hermione," Lily said in a small voice, but she looked at Halo the whole time as she said it. She had big brown eyes, not unlike his own. As she looked at him, he felt the wand in his pocket vibrate faster, as it a strange current of magic was running through it. What was going on?

"I'm sorry," repeated Lily, "I didn't mean to cause any trouble. Evey said I could visit her, even though we knew I'm not really supposed to. I didn't know how much Floo powder to use. I think I used too much. I just really wanted to come and see… Hogwarts." She looked at Halo again, and instinctively started biting her nails just like Evey did when she was lying. Halo wondered which one of them had picked the habit up from the other.

"You can't be here," Hermione said, still unable to believe what she was seeing. "You just can't…"

"Hi, I'm Lily," the girl said, using the opportunity to walk up to Halo. She looked at him shyly, as if unsure of what to say next. That was quite different from Evey, who bounded forward to stand beside her ash-covered friend. Evey, it seemed, never did anything shyly.

"Just tell him," Evey said, nudging Lily, "tell Halo what you told me about the fire and stuff. He's the one you're looking for."

Hermione still seemed unsure of what to do, and Lily paused to think for a moment. She had to act now before her Auntie stopped her. She was in big trouble, and she knew it, but at least she could do what she came to do.

"The world is in danger, Hogwarts is in danger," Lily said, speaking quietly so that Hermione couldn't hear. She wouldn't believe her anyways.

Incidentally, neither did Halo. He just stared at this girl that he had never met before and wondered what the heck she was talking about. Albus had never mentioned that his sister was crazy, and Rose hadn't said a word about it either. What was going on?

"You have to believe me!" Lily said, sounding very upset. She reached out and grabbed his arm, willing him to understand. As she touched him, his wand spun like a top in his pocket and a jolt like electricity ran up his arm. Strange visions entered his mind. They weren't clear images, but more like sensations or smells. He couldn't really explain it, since he had no idea what was going on, but he felt the heat, and he smelled the burning smell of ash. He somehow knew without a doubt that Lily was telling the truth.

Before Halo could make sense of what it all meant, the worst possible thing happened. Professor Evergreen came back from wherever he had been, and stopped dead as he entered his now unrecognizable office.

The next few minutes were about as unenjoyable as any Halo could remember. Lily and Evey were yelled at nearly to the point of tears, something that made Halo very uncomfortable. Apparently, Hermione was really quite good at yelling when she got warmed up. The worst though, came at the very end, when Evey said, with those big, evil, traitorous eyes of hers, "Well, it was all his idea," pointing her finger right at Halo.

Time seemed to stop, or if it didn't stop it at least slowed way, way down. The two adults rounded on him, looking a bit like angry bulls. Halo tried to protest, but they didn't listen to a word of it. He supposed it was fair, in a twisted sort of way. After all, it_ had_ actually been his idea, even though he had never intended this to happen. He resolved that day never to joke with nine-year-olds again. Apparently, they didn't understand it at all.

An angry Professor Evergreen marched Halo straight to the Headmistress's office while Hermione took Lily home, promising that her parents were going to hear about this. Just before the two left to go their separate ways, Halo and Lily exchanged a brief look, and Halo gave her a little nod to make sure she knew that he had understood. Lily wasn't just being crazy, something bad was about to happen. He wanted to ask her more, but there was no way to do that now. Clearly the adult didn't understand, or she would have already told them all about it. Then again, maybe they just didn't believe a little kid like her. As he followed Professor Evergreen through the halls, Halo wondered what he should do. The images that had at first been a jumbled mess were slowly getting clearer, and his wand had stopped vibrating. Someone was going to set the sky on fire. He had to stop it.

They stopped in front of the all-too-familiar gargoyle, and Halo sighed to himself, knowing that he was in a lot of trouble this time. He would have to think about a solution Lily's vision later. He had visited the Headmistress's office way too much already this first year. It was not a good sign.

Professor Evergreen gesture up the moving staircase, and Halo sighed as the made his way up the Headmistress's office. He would have to find a way to save the world later… if he even had a later.


	26. Chapter 24

Chapter 24 A Book with a Silver Lining

Halo knocked on the door to the headmistress's office once again, feeling as though he was doing that entirely too often. He wondered what the record was for most visits to the headmistress's office in the first two months. If Halo didn't have it, he must be getting close.

The door to the headmistress's study opened on its own, and as Halo shuffled in he knew this visit was not going to be like the others. Headmistress Sprout was not smiling at him as she looked up from the potted plant she was working on. Boy was he in for it this time.

"I'm disappointed in you, Harry," the Headmistress began, putting down her wand and looking at him gravely. The tone of her voice even worse than Professor Evergreen's yelling. Headmistress Sprout had taken a huge risk by trusting in his judgement, and the fact that he had let her down after that made him feel awful.

The headmistress lectured him some more, saying more or less the same sorts of things as Evergreen and Hermione. He should have known better than to encourage Evey (which he hadn't), he should have known what she was going to do (which he couldn't have), and he should have stopped her somehow (which, again, was completely impossible). Through it all, Halo stared down at his feet and didn't argue. Even if he couldn't have possibly done anything to stop Evey from breaking about a thousand school rules and sneaking Lily Potter into the castle, he still felt guilty. After all, if everyone was mad at him he must have done something wrong, right?

"Harry, you must learn to exercise better judgement," Headmistress Sprout said a length, her lecture nearly over. "If you don't, you won't be able to help Clytemnestra Lestrange, or anyone else who might need you. There are people counting on you, Harry, and you need to hold yourself to a higher standard than everyone else. To make it clear just how serious this, I will be taking 20 points from Slytherin."

"20 points?!" Halo said, stunned. He wasn't quite sure when he had starting caring about how many points Slytherin had, but suddenly he was outraged. Why had they lost points over something silly like this?

"And you will have detention for the rest of the afternoon," continued the headmistress, ignoring his protests. "Go to the library, and help Ms. Vance catalogue the unsorted books. I dare say she could use the help. I hope you learn from this and nothing like this ever happens again. Now go, Harry, and try to stay out of this office for a few days." She gave him a little half-smile that didn't cheer him up in the slightest.

"Yes, headmistress," Halo said dully, staring at the floor as he turned around and exited the office. He was halfway to the library when he stopped to think about what this meant. When he thought about it, Halo realized that this day was about to get a whole lot worse. Once Liam Reese, Patrick Harper, Amelia Runcorn and the other Slytherin upperclassmen heard that a first-year had just lost them 20 points, they were going to gang up and kill him! Then, of course, there was Atalanta. She'd probably just kill him herself when she heard about this.

Halo was feeling very sorry for himself as he entered the library, sure that his days on this earth were numbered. He had never actually set foot inside the library before, although he knew where it was from his travels around the castle. Halo had never felt any particular desire to explore _inside_ the library, and so had contented himself with walking past on his way to more interesting and exciting places in Hogwarts. As his father liked to say, if you've seen one book, you've seen them all. Mother, being a good Ravenclaw, always tried to argue with her husband when he said things like that, complaining that he was setting a bad example. Halo, though, thought that Father made a number of valid points. He probably would have avoided the library for a good long time if he weren't forced to come here now.

Not surprisingly, there was hardly anyone inside the library… probably because it was a Friday afternoon and no one in their right mind would be studying this early in the weekend. The library was deserted except for a handful of Ravenclaw upperclassmen, who, Harry figured, must not be in their right minds. Halo made his way up to the front desk, trying not to think about all the other things he could be doing right now.

"Can I help you, young man?" the tall, elegant-looking old librarian asked him kindly, peering at him from behind a book.

"Uh, yeah, I've…" Halo found he didn't want to say he was here to serve detention. The old librarian lady seemed like a nice lady. What if she was disappointed in him for getting in trouble? He didn't like it when people were mad or upset with him. Halo shook his head to clear it and tried again to speak. His voice didn't seem to work, but there was no need. The librarian nodded in understanding and said, "Ah, yes, you must be Harry Wiggins. I know I shouldn't be happy that any of my students get detention, but at least this way we'll have some help. My name is Ms. Adeline Vance, the school librarian. This way, young man." She gestured behind her, indicating a wooden door behind the counter.

Halo blinked slowly, trying not to get upset. It was bad enough that he had to detention over something that wasn't even his fault, but the old librarian could at least not act so excited. This was his Friday afternoon that he was giving up, didn't anyone care about that? No, of course they didn't, especially not Ms. Vance with her cheerful smile, which somehow just made him feel worse. Clearly she wasn't a nice lady at all, she was someone who smiled at the misery of little children! Didn't that make her a monster or a vampire… or something? Plus, how had she known that he was coming? Did information really travel that fast in Hogwarts? But there was nothing for it, Halo knew that he just had to get this stupid detention over with. Feeling completely mutinous, Halo followed the librarian through the wooden door and into the room beyond.

Halo was a fairly messy person, so in some sense he could appreciate the beauty of stuff that was just scattered everywhere. The room beyond was like that, except that instead of robes, broomsticks, cauldrons and whatever other things a young wizard might throw all over the room, this room was filled with nothing but books. Hundreds and hundreds of books, some stacked in little piles and some just lying there, covers dusty. It was like some sort of graveyard for books, an old forgotten battlefield littered with the bodies of the dead. He would never have guessed that a place like this existed in a library. After all, weren't libraries supposed to be organized?

"This room is for the new donations to our library which we get every year, as well as books that either went missing or were not returned properly," the librarian said, seeing the look on Halo's face. He nodded slowly, but he still didn't understand.

"But… but why are there so many?" Halo asked, staring at the piles in disbelief. If these books were from the beginning of the year, shouldn't someone have already sorted them by now? After all, it was already October! He tried squinting, trying to see if that would somehow get rid of some of the hundreds and hundreds of books that he had to sort. It didn't.

"Well, we just got a large donation from the estate of Mr. Newton Scamander, a renowned Magizoologist. He passed away just a few weeks ago, and kindly donated nearly his entire collection to Hogwarts," Ms. Vance explained patiently, sounding wise and reasonable. "You're very lucky to get a chance to see a collection this rare, Harry," the librarian added, as if this were some sort of special treat. Halo just scowled, still upset that she was so cheerful that he had detention. She ought to feel sorry for him, not go on as if it was some great privilege! Not sure what else to do, Halo just looked around at the piles and piles of books, unable to process such a mess. Towards the back of the room someone, presumably Ms. Vance, had stacked a large group of books that rose almost higher than him. Halo figured that if that stack fell on him, he might be buried alive. Well, he thought to himself moodily, at least I wouldn't have to do this stupid detention.

"As you probably already realized, this collection is uncommonly, well, unorganized," Ms. Vance said, her voice tinged with disapproval. "Mr. Scamander kept these books hidden away inside magically expanded book bags, and his frequent travelling tending to… knock things around. And unfortunately, books are always among the trickiest things to sorts. I cannot even use the House Elves, because unfortunately they wouldn't be much help. It isn't easy to sort books when you can't read."

Halo nodded, mostly because he felt that it would seem rude not to. He hadn't even known that there were House Elves at Hogwarts. Were they the ones who did all the cooking and cleaning around the castle? Halo had just figured the castle did all that stuff on its own somehow.

"All things considered," Ms. Vance added, giving Halo another refined and elegant smile, "It is very fortunate at you are here, Harry. We could really use your help."

Harry nodded mutinously, refusing to be drawn in by her kind words. He couldn't help feeling as this task was just a little beyond him. But despite his complaining, Halo knew that this wasn't really so bad. This was not, he knew from experience, the worst kind of detention that he could have gotten here at Hogwarts. For instance, he could have been given a task involving flubberworms. No, books really weren't that bad.

"Just sort them into piles by the first letter of the author's last name for now," Ms. Vance called from the other side of the room as Halo got to work picking up the scattered book. "Once you have, a handful, you can just bring them over to my assistant, if you don't mind." As she spoke, Ms. Vance gestured to the large pile of books near the back wall of the room.

Halo looked around, holding a battered copy of _Werewolf Worship in Wales, 500-900 AD_ by Agatha Andrews. He had no idea who Ms. Vance was talking about, since there wasn't anyone in the room but them… was there? Did she have some sort of invisible helper, or maybe a magical familiar of some kind hidden behind the stack of books? That would be so cool! Book in hand, Halo headed to the far side of the room.

He hadn't quite formed a clear image in his mind of what he expected to see behind the wall of books, but Halo most definitely did not expect to find Cleo sitting behind the stack, casually sorting the books around her into piles. She slowly looked up at him, looking as peaceful as he had ever seen her.

"Hello, Halo," Cleo said quietly, smiling at him. "I'm glad you're here."

He didn't reply at first, instead he just stared at her with his mouth slightly open and a stupid look on his face. It wasn't that he wasn't excited to see her, of course he was, but he couldn't figure out what in Merlin's name she was _doing _there. Did she get detention too? Plus, it was a little surprising to see Cleo looking so peaceful and happy. After all, she had actually greeted him, which she basically never did. Six words in a row was positively talkative for Cleo.

"Ms. Lestrange volunteered earlier this week to be my little helper," Ms. Vance said, coming to join them. She smiled fondly at the girl and said, "She's been incredibly helpful. I don't think I've ever met another first year who worked anywhere near as hard. Without her, sorting this mess might take me months!"

As far as Halo could remember, he had never seen anyone but Ron give a friendly look like that to Cleo—as if she were just a normal girl. In that moment, Halo decided that Ms. Vance must not be so bad after all. She was a wonderful librarian, not some sort of monster!

Cleo seemed uncomfortable under the librarian's praise, and she just let her black hair fall in front of her face as if she could somehow hide behind it.

"She's been coming to the library since her very first day of school," Ms. Vance continued with a smile, seeming totally indifferent to Cleo's discomfort. Then again, maybe Ms. Vance was refusing to acknowledge it an attempt to help Cleo develop more normal people skills by trying to get her used to being complimented. Halo knew as well as anyone that Cleo certainly had her share of interpersonal skills she needed to work on. Namely, all of them.

"Well, I see you know each other," Ms. Vance said, smiling that same elegant smile down at them. "Why don't you children work together over here, while I start sorting some of Mr. Scamander books on the other side?"

Halo nodded excitedly, feeling as though his detention had suddenly gotten a whole lot better. "So this is where you always disappear to," Halo said with a smile, sitting down beside Cleo and handing her the book he was holding. She looked at him briefly as she stacked the book on top of the others before dropping her eyes again and nodding.

"I don't disappear," Cleo said in her quiet voice, surprising him. He had lived with her for several weeks now, and he knew better than to expect an answer to most of his questions. Cleo just wasn't like that, and honestly Halo had thought that she had already reached her word limit for the day. "I just come to read, and to be alone. Nobody bothers me here."

Cleo didn't sound sad as she said that last part, and she didn't sound mad, frustrated or hurt either. Her voice was completely expressionless, and her eyes had that same dark, dead look that they got whenever the other students yelled after her in the halls or called her a monster. Stuff like that really made Halo mad.

The desire to be alone, though, Halo could understand. After all, there were plenty of times when he wanted to get away from Courtney, Kevin, Scorpius and the rest. Then he had a sudden thought, one that made him rather uncomfortable.

"Cleo?" Halo asked hesitantly. "If you came here to be alone, do you mind that I'm here?"

"No," Cleo said quietly with a shake of her head. "I don't mind. Being with you is just like being alone." It was a curiously worded statement, but Halo knew Cleo well enough to know that, in her own way, it was one of the nicest things that she could have said. Halo laughed, and together the two of them worked side by side, sorting through the mess that had once been Mr. Scamander's library.

The first hour passed quickly, as Halo just enjoyed being in the company of a good friend. Cleo was in good spirits, and she was way more fun to be around when people weren't making her upset or nervous. Halo stuck with her during those times anyways, of course, because he'd made a promise to Headmistress Sprout and Harry Potter and the others that he would watch her. More importantly, though, he had promised himself that he would be there for the girl who had been there for him when he had needed it most. If it weren't for Cleo, Halo knew he might not have been kicked out of Hogwarts that night when he nearly attacked Kevin and the others. So no matter how difficult Cleo might be at those times when the outside world focused its hatred on her and the darkness held her fast, Halo wasn't going to give up on her. He owed her that much at least.

Plus, he just wanted to help her.

And, of course, there were times like these—times when Cleo acted just like a shy, bookish eleven-year-old girl with sparkling blue eyes despite all the pain and all the scars that her horrid mother had inflicted upon her, and despite the dangerous powers swirling inside her. Those times made it all worthwhile.

After that first hour, though, the monotony of the task really started to wear on Halo. Every now and then he would come across an interesting book like _Notable Dragon Hunts of the First Millennium AD _or _A First-Hand Account of the Second Giant War_, but most of the book were either large, boring, or both. Halo looked around, and he didn't seem to him like he and Cleo were making much of a dent. There were just so many books!

Another hour passed, by which time Halo had nearly reached his breaking point. Wasn't he done yet? Hadn't he paid a high enough price for something that he hadn't even done? The next time he saw Evey Evergreen, the little devil was really going to get the justice she deserved!

Halo was so distracted that when it happened, he didn't notice it right away. He reached down to pick up yet another book, and for the second time that day his wand started vibrating.

Halo was so surprised that he almost dropped the book he was holding. But after a moment he gathered his wits, thinking back to what had happened that afternoon. Lily Potter had had something that she desperately needed to tell him, and somehow his wand had known it. It had guided him using some sort of magic he didn't understand, and he had gotten a glimpse of Lily's vision of the future. He still couldn't make clear sense of the images in his mind, except that someone was going to set the sky on fire. Hopefully, when the images would get clearer eventually, and he would be able to find out who was going to do it and how to stop them. His wand had somehow helped him learn something really, really important, and now it was vibrating again. This time, though, it only vibrated for a few seconds before falling still. Not knowing what to make of what was happening to him today, Halo looked down at the book in his hand.

It was beat up little silver bound book with an old, faded cover and a title that read, _Blood Magik, the Misunderstood Art of Wizardry_ by Grayson Vance. The name triggered in his memory, but he couldn't quite remember why. Wait, of course, he thought suddenly, how could I be so stupid? Halo leapt to his feet, surprising Cleo who had been sorting quietly beside him. Of course the name Vance was familiar, there was a Vance in this very room!

"Ms. Vance, Ms. Vance!" Halo yelled excitedly, running over to her and scattered books across the floor as he went. "I have something to show you!" The elderly librarian looked up from the books that she was organizing and gave him a puzzled yet elegant look. "Yes, Harry?" she asked, "What is it?"

"I found a book by someone named Grayson Vance do you know him is he a relative of yours?" Halo asked very quickly, hardly stopping to breathe as he held out the book for her to see. He figured it was a pointless question to ask. Of course Ms. Vance must know him! How many wizard families named Vance were there likely to be?

Ms. Vance looked at the book for a very long time, slowly growing paler as she stared at it as if she were seeing a ghost. Without a word of explanation, she drew her wand and without a word waved it at the book, catching Halo completely by surprise. There was a flash of violet light and before Halo could do more than blink the book was gone, vanishing right out of his hand.

"H-hey!" Halo said, unsure of just how upset he was allowed to be. After this, this was Ms. Vance's library, and he was only here because of detention. At the same time, that book was important, he just knew it. His wand had been trying to tell him something, just like before. How could she have just taken it away from him like that? It wasn't fair!

"Thank you for showing that to me, Harry," Ms. Vance said, sounding shaken. "I had no idea this collection had… books like that?"

"What is that book, and why are you so afraid of, and who is Grayson Vance, and who-er-I-mean-what…" Halo asked haphazardly, the questions colliding in his brain on their way out his mouth. Before Ms. Vance could answer, Cleo came to stand beside Halo, drawn by the confusion of the situation. She didn't say anything, but she looked rather curious as well. It calmed Halo down a bit to have her by his side, and his brain started working again. He knew without a doubt that he had to get that book back… somehow.

"All you need to know is that that book is banned, and for good reason," Ms. Vance said, obviously sidestepping the entire issue. "I think that is enough work for today, children. Why don't you go head on back to your dormitories?"

"But," Halo began, no longer having any desire to leave the library, at least not without that book.

"That book is banned, young man, and you cannot have it back," Ms. Vance said, her voice hard and firm as she guessed his request before he asked it. "Now go, and enjoy your weekend."

Halo could think of no way to continue a conversation like this with an adult, and after a few seconds of indecision he gave up. He would have to find a way to come back here and get his hands on that book another time. Leaving now didn't mean that he was giving up, he just had to… plan or something. Thinking about it that way, he didn't feel quite so bad as he and Cleo walked out of the library empty handed.

Cleo, naturally, was quiet as they made their way down the hallway, and Halo was wrapped up in his own thoughts, trying to think of what to do. He knew something bad was going to happen, Lily Potter had shown him as much, and he knew that his wand was guiding him somehow. Most likely it was trying to help him save the world from being set on fire. All he knew for certain is that it wanted him to have that book, and that he had to get it back. It must be able to help him somehow. There had to be a way to…

"You're quiet," Cleo said looking at her feet as she spoke. It shocked Halo so badly that he jumped slightly. She had never, as far as he could remember, actually initiated a conversation with him or anyone else. It was really amazing!

"I'm sorry," Halo said, coming to a halt to face her. "Oh, and I'm sorry I got you kicked out the library. I didn't mean to."

"Don't be sorry," Cleo said, raising her blue eyes to look at him. They were sparkling, and she was smiling slightly. Cleo looked so different when she smiled. "You say sorry too much, even when you don't do anything wrong. And I was going to leave the library anyways."

That last part was clearly a lie, and Halo knew it, but he didn't focus on it much. Her words made him feel happy, even if he didn't quite believe them. It seemed to Halo as though he was more or less always doing something wrong, at least lately. But more than anything else, what made him happy was that her words proved that he was right about Cleo, and the rest of the world was wrong. This girl was no monster; far from it. In fact, she was quickly becoming one of the best friends that he had ever had. A month ago, he would never have thought that was possible. It just showed how quickly things could change in the life of an eleven-year-old.

"Wiggins, damn you!" someone shouted, shattering Halo's happy moment. Before Halo could even turn completely around, James Potter had nearly crossed the length of the hallway, advancing on him with wand in hand. "What were you thinking, getting my sister wrapped up in your schemes?"

"Wuh?" Halo manage to say, stumbling backwards and trying to decide whether or not to draw his wand. He didn't want to use it on James, but he probably didn't want to leave himself unprotected either. His confusion was genuine, of course, since in no way, shape or form had Halo wrapped anyone up in any kind of scheme. He was the real victim here!

"My sister is only nine years old, and she's delicate," James said, pointing his wand at Halo. "You stay the hell away from her."

"Don't point your wand at him," Cleo said, her voice soft but incredibly menacing. She stepped forward suddenly, putting herself between the boys and pointing her own wand at James. Halo's heart leapt into his throat at the sight of it, for he had seen her do some terrifying things with that very wand. He had seen her kill her own mother. He couldn't let this get out of hand, he had make sure she kept control of herself.

But before Halo could do a thing, James's eyes widened at the sight of Cleo, and his wand arm seemed to falter. Halo had never seen James back away from any fight, so what was going on? Was he also afraid of the "monster" named Clytemnestra Lestrange?

"What's the matter, Potter, you afraid?" Cleo said, sounding angry. Halo started in surprise again as she said his name. It wasn't surprising that she knew who he was, since she had met his father and James looked just like a younger version of the most famous wizard in the whole word. But even so, Halo had never heard her call anyone by their name except for him. She certainly was acting strangely today. For now at least, she seemed to still be in control. Her eyes, thankfully, were still normal, not blazing and trance-like. If they got like that, they would all be in really big trouble.

"I-I'm not going to fight you," James said, taking a step backwards. There was something strange in his voice, something that didn't sound at all like fear.

Cleo watched James carefully, and true to his word, he actually dropped his wand out of the ready position. Halo never thought he'd say the day when James Potter backed down from a fight. He placed his wand down beside his feet and raised his hands in the air in the gesture of surrender. Cleo gave Halo a quick, puzzled look before slowly lowering her own wand.

"Why would you think that I would want to fight you, Clytemnestra Lestrange?" James said, giving her a hesitant half-smile. "It would be such a waste. After all, four years ago, I saved your life."


	27. Chapter 25

Chapter 25 The Past and the Future

"C-come again?" Halo said after a long pause during which Cleo didn't say anything at all. She just stared at James with a confused look on her face, no doubt thinking the same thing Halo was—namely that there was no way James had saved her from anything. What was he playing at?

Well, then again, Cleo was Cleo, and for all he knew she might be thinking something completely different.

"Like I said, four years ago I helped rescue her from her mother," James said, glaring as he turning to look at Halo. "I bet you don't know anything about that, did you Wiggins?"

"Wha-of course I know about it," Halo shot back stubbornly, annoyed by James's tone. Why did the boy always have to treat him like this? And also, what in Merlin's name was James talking about? Halo had seen what happened the day Cleo was rescued from her mother, and James had definitely been nowhere around. Still, he seemed to know what had happened to her, which didn't make any sense. Somehow, Halo couldn't see Harry Potter sharing something like that with his children, not when he kept so many secrets from so many people. So how could he possibly know about it?

"You don't know anything, Wiggins," James said dismissively. "You're far too young to remember stuff like that."

Halo liked to that think that he was a fairly patient person, and he was trying really hard to do what Headmistress Sprout and the others had asked him to do by being someone who was responsible and could be counted on and all that, but he'd had quite enough of James Potter. What had he ever done to the boy, except be sorted in Slytherin? It was completely unfair that James kept treating him like this, and he'd had enough of it. Halo drew himself up to his full height and glared at the taller boy, refusing to back down.

"I'm only two years younger than you, Potter!" Halo said, using his rudest tone which he normally reserved for Courtney, "and I know exactly what happened. I saw the whole thing!"

"Oh yeah?" James demanded irritatingly, crossing his hands over his chest.

"Yeah!" Halo said, taking a step towards the older boy.

"And how did you do that, Wiggins?"

"When I was in the headmistress's office, your-"

"STOP IT, both of you!" shouted Cleo, moving between the two of them to separate them. Halo stumbled backwards as if he had been zapped by lightning. He had never, ever heard Cleo shout, or even so much as raise her voice before. He hadn't considered that Cleo might not want them talking the most painful experience of her life like that. What had he been thinking? He tried to catch her eye and let her know he was sorry, but she ignored him completely. Instead, she focused her attention on James and simply said, "Explain."

"Well, well it was really my sister that did it," James said, keeping his eyes on Cleo and ignoring Halo. "There's something you should know about her. She's got this kind of… power. Lily can see things in her dreams sometimes, things that are about to happen. I didn't believe her the first time she told me, I just thought she was having bad dreams. Then came the day that my brother almost died."

Halo stared at James in shock, but he didn't interrupt the story with any of his half-formed questions. After all, James wasn't really talking to him, he was only looking at Cleo, who had dropped her eyes and was looking at her own shoes. Halo felt a bit like he was eavesdropping on a private conversation, which was actually kind of annoying. After all, he had been here talking to Cleo first!

James took a deep breath and continued his story. "It was January, and the winter was unusually cold that year. Albus was only six years old and I was eight. I begged our parents to let us play outside, and they said we could as long as we stayed away from the old pond. We both promised, and then naturally headed straight there the moment we got outside.

You see, there was this pond behind our house in Godric's Hollow that used to completely freeze over during winter. Albus and I loved to play there, and we would slide across the ice and push each other around. Mum used to hate it when we went on the ice, and always told us this story about how Uncle Charlie fell through the ice as a child and nearly died. Dad would let us go on the pond sometimes, but only when he was there to watch us. So that day we knew we weren't supposed to be playing there, but we went anyways. We played all morning, and I guess it got warmer as the day went on, but we didn't notice. We were just having fun.

Right before lunch time, Albus said he wanted some hot cocoa, and so I went back to the house to make some. I made Albus promise not to go back out on the ice without me, but I should have known he wouldn't listen. After all, he was only six years old, and what six-year-old actually does what he's told? I should never have left him!"

James clenched his fist, as if he was still as upset by his mistake as he had been all those years ago. Halo wondered if this was how Cassy felt whenever he did something silly. He had never really thought about what it must be like to be an older brother or sister and have other people to look out for. For the first time in a while, Halo felt a pang of sympathy for James. He was just trying to watch over his brother, sister and cousins, just like he always had. If he would only get it through his thick head that Halo cared about them and wanted to protect them too, then they wouldn't have a problem!

"Anyways," continued James, "I was making our cocoa when Lily ran down the stairs holding her blanket. She was only four at the time, and she was supposed to be taking her nap. She ran right over to me, yelling about how she had dreamed that Albus was in danger. I tried to calm her down and told her not to worry about her bad dreams, but she wouldn't listen and just started crying, saying over and over again that Albus was about to fall through the ice. When she didn't calm down, I promised that I would go check on him. I didn't really believe her, but I didn't really have a choice but to do what she said. Lily can be really stubborn when she wants to be.

I ran back to the pond, just in case, and saw that my Lily had been right. For some reason, my idiot of a brother had gone back out onto the ice on his own and had fallen through. Albus couldn't really swim back then, and he had no way of getting himself out from under the ice. That moment was the scariest of my entire life. I was so terrified that I didn't even think, I just sprinted to the pond and released my magic without even realizing it and made all the ice just… shatter. I jumped straight into the water and pulled him out as quickly as I could. His teeth were chattering furiously and he coughed up a bit of water, but he was more or less fine because he was only in the water for maybe half a minute. I managed to get him back to the house, where Mum and Dad were able to warm him up. That was the angriest I think I've ever seen Dad. Mum is the one who usually yells when one of us messes up. He yelled at me that day, and I was in trouble for what seemed like months. I didn't really mind though, since it really had been my fault, and anyways the important thing was that Albus was alright.

I learned one other very important lesson that day—that Lily's dreams, somehow, were very real and very, very important. Without her, my brother probably would have died that day. After that, I never doubted my sister again."

Halo nodded, already knowing that Lily's strange vision were real. He had already caught a glimpse of the things she could see, even if they didn't fully make sense to him yet. Halo realized that she really had it tough. After all, who would want to see visions of the end of the world and other terrible things as a child? Not to mention the pressure to having to do something about it! That kind of thing could seriously mess with someone's head. Lily though, seemed to deal with it pretty well. Halo didn't really know her hardly at all, but she seemed like a normal enough girl, all things considered.

This was sure interesting and all, Halo did have one question. "So what does this have to do with Cleo?"

James scowled as he glanced at Halo briefly, as if annoyed that he was still there. "I was just getting to that, Wiggins," he said as rudely as he could. "About a year later, Lily came into my room in the middle of the night, shaking and crying. She said that there was a little girl, just like her, but she was somewhere dark and scary, and that her mother was a bad witch who was hurting her. Lily said that she had been dreaming about the girl all week, and that the dreams were getting worse. She said she didn't want the girl to be hurt anymore."

Halo glanced over at Cleo, wondering how she must be feeling. They were talking about the very worst time of her life, during which she had endure more pain than Halo or James or anyone else could possibly imagine. Even so, she stood as still as a statue, staring at her feet as if they were the most interesting things in the whole world. The only thing that gave away how badly the words were affecting her were her hands, which were clenched so tightly that Halo knew it had to hurt.

"I had no idea who the girl was, and neither did Lily, but we both wanted to help," James continued, and Halo turned his attention back to him. "We had absolutely no way to find her, so there was nothing we could do but wait until my sister found out from her dreams where the girl was. Then we'd go tell Dad, and he would set out and rescue her. It took nearly two weeks, but finally one day the old witch said their location, Coity Castle in Wales. Lily was so excited that she'd finally learned it that she jumped right out of bed at three in the morning and ran straight to our parent's room to tell Dad, sure that he would believe her."

"But he didn't, did he?" Halo said, already knowing the answer.

"No, he didn't. I'm not sure my sister did a very good job of explaining things properly, but she was only five years old. I don't think it helped that it was the middle of the night, or that Dad probably wasn't even fully awake. Anyways, he told Lily that it was just a bad dream, and that there was nothing to worry about. Just like that, he sent my sister back to bed."

Halo could almost see it happening, a young Lily Potter trying to get her half-asleep father to understand the terrible things she was seeing, only to have him tell her not to worry. "That must have been terrible for her."

"Lily was devastated, and spent most of the most of the next day crying. She swore to never mention her dreams to Dad again, furious that he hadn't believed her. I wasn't going to give up so easily though. I knew I had to think of some way to help the girl. After all, I was Lily's older brother, and she was counting on me.

The opportunity came two days later, when Mum took us to London for the day. I was old enough that I got a tour of the Ministry from Aunt Hermione while Mum went around the city with Albus, Lily, Rosie and Hugo, who were all too young. I spent the whole morning trying to come up with a plan, but nothing really came to mind. In the end, all I could think to do was to sneak into Dad's office when someone came to talk to Aunt Hermione about work and leave an anonymous note on his desk, saying that there was a girl in trouble and giving the location."

"T-that was you?" Halo asked in disbelief. Mr. Potter had mention that very note, and Halo knew that it was the only reason that Ron and Harry had gone to Wales that day. That note was the only reason that Cleo had been rescued at all.

So James had been telling the truth. He really had saved Cleo's life all those years ago.

"I didn't actually know who that girl from my sister's dreams was, at least not until very recently," James said. "Even your first day of school, Clytemnestra, I had no idea that it was you. I'm sorry to say that I thought you were just another Slytherin—not to mention one with a very evil last name. It wasn't until the article by Rita Skeeter came out that I made the connection that you must be the girl who my sister and I had tried to help back then. Lily had mentioned that the girl in her dreams had strange and unique powers, and the article mentioned the same thing. I knew that it must be you."

Cleo looked up at James for a second or two, her bright blue eyes looking apprehensive and ashamed the way they always did when someone talked about her powers. Halo knew that she was afraid of what she could do, and hated how easily she could hurt people. Halo hated it when she looked like that, but he wasn't sure how to make her feel better. James, though, didn't seem afraid as he looked at her.

"You don't need to worry Clytemnestra, I'm going to help you now. I don't know exactly what happened or how your mother came back to life to do all those terrible things to you, but I'll do whatever I can to help. And I know that my Gryffindors have been a little hard on you, but that's just because they don't understand. Even I didn't know who you were until recently, or I would have helped sooner. I'll make sure they cut it out, I promise."

"A little hard on her, are you joking? You Gryffindors call her a monster as she walks down the halls!" Halo burst out angrily. It was unusual for him to get so worked up, but James was really getting on his nerves again. The boy was really irritating, acting as if he were some knight in shining armour here to save Cleo from all her problems, when it was people like him that caused all the problems in the first place! He didn't even know a thing about her, so how could he possibly help? Cleo was quite all right on her own, and she didn't need help from a… from a git like James. Plus, she had _him_ if she need someone to help her out. He had been on side from the beginning… more or less.

"Stay out of this, Wiggins. Why do you Slytherins always have to stick your noses into everything? Why don't you just go away, little boy."

Halo opened his mouth to say something, burning with indignation. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to say, but it was going to be something really mean and clever and… and something. That would show James who was a little boy. Before he could say a thing though, Cleo just turned without a word and walked away, leaving the boys behind.

"Hey, wait," James tried to say, but Cleo ignored him, and disappeared around the corner without looking back. Halo felt like a total idiot. Why was he picking a fight at a time like this, when Cleo had just had to relive the worst parts of her life and probably had all kinds of thoughts running through her head? What kind of friend was he?

"Let her go, she needs to be alone," Halo said firmly as James started to follow her. There was something about his tone that surprised even him, a kind of authority that he expected to hear from some adult, not coming out of his own mouth. James paused, and turned to look back at Halo.

"What do you mean, just let her go? I wasn't done… I didn't get a chance to explain everything!" James said, not understanding. Halo sighed, amazed that anyone could be so clueless. James Potter had not an ounce of subtlety to him. He was loyal to his friends, aggressive to his enemies, direct with his words, and open with his feelings. Halo figured he would really actually like the bloke, if it weren't for the fact that James had it out for him for being sorted into Slytherin. Well, maybe Halo could change his mind. Now that he'd a chance to come to his senses calm down, Halo saw that getting irritated with James was the wrong thing to do. Just like with Courtney, Halo had to try and be more patient. Of course, it didn't really work out so well with her.

"Please, I know Cleo pretty well, and right now she needs some time alone," Halo said, trying to sound as mature and reasonable as possible. "She needs time to process everything you told her. You can say whatever else you wanted to say later."

"Fine," muttered James, turning around to stand opposite Halo, who couldn't believe that James had actually listened to him. "I don't get it, Wiggins," James said, looking Halo up and down. "How do you know so much anyways? You were very young when all this stuff happened."

Halo hesitated for a moment, wondering what he should say. Then he thought about all the secrets that grownups liked to keep, from Mr. Potter to Professor Mason to Hermione and the others, all of whom kept things to themselves when it would be easier to just get help from other people. Halo didn't know much, but over his eleven years he'd found that the less secrets you kept, the better it was. Plus, while he may not like James Potter very much, and the boy certainly didn't like him, he did seem to genuinely want to help Cleo. Whether it was because of his sister or because of the responsibility James felt for having saved Cleo's life all those years ago Halo didn't know, but he did know that James was sincere. And even though he didn't get along with James, Halo knew that Cleo needed all the friends she could get.

Plus, he was still Lily's brother. Halo didn't really understand her vision clearly, and without James's help it was unlikely that Halo would ever get a chance to see or talk to the girl again. Halo thought all these things in less than a second, and almost immediately made his decision. He opened his mouth and started telling James the entire story, from the time he didn't get his letter to Hogwarts to that very afternoon, when Lily Potter had touched his arm. James absorbing every word without comment, listening so quietly that it was almost impossible to believe he was actually related to Rose. She couldn't go that long without interrupting her unless you cursed her mouth shut.

"So it's you, you're the one Lily was trying to find," James said as he started to pace back and forth. "I can't believe it."

"Look, I know you don't like me much, or any Slytherin for that matter, but this goes beyond any of that," Halo said, trying hard to get James onto his side. He would feel a whole lot better if he didn't have to think of how to save the whole freaking world on his own. "Something bad is going to happen, and I need your help to figure out what it is and how to stop. Will you help me, please?"

Halo put all the pleading he could into his warm brown eyes, but they didn't have much of an effect on James. If James had been a girl, it would have been a different story, but unfortunately Halo's eyes didn't work the same magicless spell on everyone. James just scowled and said, "I guess I'll help you, Wiggins, but only because my sister would want me to. You have to find some way to stop whatever she saw, and you don't have very much to go on. It seems to me like you need all the help you can get."

Halo didn't much care for James's brand of pep talks, but he did feel marginally better. At least he wasn't alone. If only he had Rose, Albus, Cassy and the others to help him. That would make this so much… wait a second. Halo's eyes widened and he nearly cursed out loud, amazed by his own stupidity. Of course! He did have them on his side! All he had to do was tell his friends what was happening, and they would all the able to help him out. After all, what were friends for if not to help save the world?

"Don't worry about that, James," Halo said with a big grin. "Just meet me in the library tomorrow morning after breakfast, and have Rose and Albus come too. If we all work together, there's no way we can fail!"

James gave him the most sceptical of sceptical looks, but he reluctantly promised to do just that and headed back down the corridor towards the Gryffindor common room. Halo went in the opposite direction, heading down the dungeons and the Slytherin common room. He had some planning to do.

It wasn't easy, but in the end Halo managed to convince Sam, J.B., and Scorpius to come with him to the library tomorrow. Kevin and Courtney refused, of course, but Halo hadn't really expected them to come anyways. Halo would have to go find Cassy in the morning and make sure that she came too, but he wasn't worried about her. She would never refuse to help her brother, not when he needed her. There was only one person left to talk to, and she terrified him more than everyone else put together.

Atalanta was sitting alone, curled up on a couch by the fireplace as she worked on an essay for some class or other. Halo figured she might look like a cute little girl to someone who didn't know her, what with her long blonde hair falling down her back and her adorable little nose. But Atalanta Selwyn was anything but cute, and seemed to exist as living proof that the saying can't judge a book by its cover was completely true. Atalanta saw that he was watched her, and beckoned him over with a lazy curl of her finger.

"What the hell do you want, Halo, or are you just admiring my looks?" Atalanta demanded, green eyes matching perfectly the green light of the common room around her.

"What? No, I-I just wanted to talk to you," Halo stammered.

"Yes, that seems to be a rather annoying desire you boys have," Atalanta said, stretching her back like a cat. "So now you've talked to me, are all your dreams fulfilled?"

"Um, no… I, I have a favour to ask of you," Halo said finding it really difficult to talk around Atalanta. He knew that she liked him, he really did, but he couldn't help being a little afraid of her. She'd slammed his head into things too many times for him to feel comfortable around her.

"Sure thing, anything for you Halo, dear," Atalanta said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. Halo knew that Atalanta never, ever did anything that she didn't want to do, but he was relieved to see that she looked mildly curious. He knew that they could really use the help of the most capable girl at Hogwarts, especially when it came to saving the world.

"Would you come meet me and some other people in the library tomorrow after breakfast? I have some things that I need discuss with everyone. It's, um, it's important."

Atalanta regarded him for a long time, saying nothing. Then she turned back to her essay and simply said, "Maybe." It wasn't much, but it was probably the best that Halo could have hoped for. Halo retreated quickly, knowing better than to press his luck by staying near Atalanta. It might make her angry, and an angry Atalanta would be very, very bad.

Feeling hopeful about the following day, Halo went up the stairs to the dormitory that he shared with Cleo. He hadn't seen her come back to the common room at all, and he hoped that wherever she was, she was all right. She had been really lively and talkative that day, and it was a shame that she'd had to relive all those painful memories of her time with her mother. If he could have, Halo would have spared her all that pain.

He heard it immediately when he walked in the room, the sound of Cleo crying. She was sitting on her bed, tears running down her face as she held her wand in her hands. Halo immediately rushed over to her without even thinking, just to make sure she was all right.

"I-I'm fine," Cleo muttered as he crouched beside her. It was unusual for her to speak up like that, but she had been speaking far more than usual all day, so maybe just maybe that meant that things were changing with her. There used to be days when Cleo didn't say a word to him at all. Halo wouldn't really miss those days at all if they were gone for good.

"You don't look fine," Halo said honestly, reaching out to take her hand. She had already changed into the pyjamas, and her short sleeve shirt revealed the numerous burns, cuts and scars that her mother had left her.

"I-I never cry about that time," Cleo said, twirling her wand in her hand. "I told myself I wouldn't cry about it anymore."

"Clytemnestra Lestrange, that is the stupidest thing you have ever said," Halo said, glaring at her in annoyance. Why did he have to be surrounded by all the world's most stubborn people? She looked at him in surprise, her blue eyes sparkling with tears. "You've been through things most people can't even imagine, and you're trying to deal with it all on your own! Why should you, when you have me… and… and James Potter willing to help you." It almost hurt to say that last part, but Halo did it anyways. James certainly did seem sincere in his desire to help Cleo, even if it did irritate him to no end. After all, who did James think he was…?

"Does he really want to help me, and did they really save me?" Cleo whispered, her blue eyes staring into his.

"Yes, he really does, and they really did," Halo said without hesitation. If it cheered Cleo up just a little, he had no problem putting aside his petty irritation. Well, maybe a teensy little problem.

Cleo nodded, and just kept on crying, squeezing his hand as if she were in the middle of the ocean and it was the only thing to keep her from drowning. At length she asked another question, one that Halo almost didn't have the heart to answer.

"Halo, did you see what she did to me?"

Halo didn't know what to say for a good long time. He forgot, sometimes, that Cleo hadn't actually been there in the room with him and Mr. Potter, and she hadn't really ever been told what had happened or why. All this time, that question must have been burning inside her, but she had never asked it until now.

"Y-yes, I saw," was all he could manage to say.

Cleo nodded, and slowly the last of her tears began to dry. "Will you stay here with me?" Cleo asked, her voice fearful. "If you don't, I think the nightmares might come back. They always come back on days like this."

Halo nodded, and curled up on the bed next to her so she wouldn't be alone. If they had been a few years older, the situation would have been much more uncomfortable, but they were both too young to have any thoughts like that on their minds. Slowly, the pair drifted off to sleep and dreamed their separate dreams.

Cleo's dreams, surprisingly, were filled with pleasant memories of her time at her aunt's house. She dreamed of the first birthday cake she had ever gotten, and how good it had tasted. Somehow, she knew that the boy beside her had managed to keep the bad dreams away.

Halo's dreams, on the other hand, turned quickly to nightmare. The visions that had been bouncing around in his head all day were finally released, and the visions that so often troubled Lily's dreams troubled his as well. For the first time, he clearly saw what she had seen, and understood what was at stake.

Through the night, one question bounced around in his head as he dreamed of walking the burning wasteland that had once been Hogwarts Castle. What the hell were they going to do to stop this from happening?


	28. Chapter 25 and a half

Chapter 25.5 Part I Unfair

The day really hadn't turned out the way Lily had pictured it would go… not at all. All she knew was that she was now in so much trouble that the best thing to do was just not think about it. Auntie Hermione took her home immediately, ordering her to stay in her room until her parents got back. Auntie didn't yell at her any more after they left Hogwarts, but she had a mean and scary look in her eyes. Lily knew from experience that, while Auntie Hermione was usually really nice, she got super-duper scary when she was mad. It was actually a bit of a relief when Lily got to go hide in her room and wait for her parents to get back from work. She just knew that once Daddy and Mum (especially Mum) got home, the yelling would start again, and it would be worse than before. Lily flopped down on her bed and stuffed her pillow over her face, sighing dramatically. Today had gone so terribly, it just wasn't fair!

Lily threw her pillow across the room, outraged by the injustice of it all. All she'd wanted was to go visit Hogwarts with her best friend in the whole wide world. Was that really too much to ask? Oh, and there was also the teensy little matter of having to save the world. Just what was so wrong with doing what Oxalion had told her? She had spent _ages _trying to think of something she could do about her vision, but she could never think of anything. When she finally did come up with a plan, it had all gone wrong. All because of stupid grown-ups and their stupid rules. Lily wished she could throw her pillow again, but it was lying on the far side of the room. So instead of throwing anything, Lily sat up, grabbed the blanket at the foot of her bed, threw it over her head, and sighed even more dramatically as she threw herself down on the other side of the bed. In her mind, she went over everything that had gone wrong.

It had all started when Lily finally decided to tell Evey all about her dreams when the girl came over to her house for a visit one day. She'd put it off for ages, afraid that Evey wouldn't believe her or would think she was crazy and not want to be friends with her anymore. No one ever believed her at first, not even James. But there was a reason that Evey was Lily's very best friend. When Lily finally told her about the dreams earlier that week, the girl hadn't even doubted her for a moment. She just sat there listening to the whole story with an unusually serious expression on her face. Even better, she had immediately thought of a way to help.

"I don't know how to stop the stuff you saw in your dreams, Lily," Evey had said, "But I think I know who you're looking for."

"You do?" Lily had asked, amazed.

"Mmhmm," Evey said, twirling her hair absentmindedly. "I overheard Father talking about a first-year boy named Harry Wiggins. He told whoever he was talking to that the boy was special, and that he was very powerful for his age and so on. I was nervous because the boy was sorted into Slytherin, but I actually met him yesterday. Halo was really nice… I mean… for a boy. I just know that he's the one you're looking for. And even if he isn't, I'm sure that he can help."

Lily had been sceptical, but had decided to trust in her friend's judgement. After all, Evey was the one who actually lived at Hogwarts. Still, she didn't think it was likely that a Slytherin boy would be the person she was looking for. After all, Slytherins were always the bad guys, weren't they?

"If we're going to save the world, we're going to need a team name," Evey had said, interrupting Lily's thinking.

"What?" Lily had asked, looking up as she chewed on her nails.

"A team name," Evey repeated, as if it were obvious. "Just like all those muggle superheroes. If we don't have one, how can we possibly hope to save everyone? I mean, have you ever heard of anyone saving the word without a team name?"

Lily could find no fault in her friend's argument. Evey truly was wise beyond her years sometimes. "So what should we call ourselves?" Lily had asked. "I'm really bad at coming up with names for things."

"I know," Evey said after taking a second or so to think. "How about Team Nargle?"

There was no debate, Evey Evergreen was a complete genius.

A few days passed, and Evey and Lily hadn't discussed Team Nargle or its mission until that very morning. Lily had been sitting out on the balcony of Aunt Luna's house while the little ones were having nap time. It was the first day of day-care in a while, because Auntie had been so busy with other things. Mum had said that a very great man named Newt Scamander, who was Auntie's Luna's husband's grandfather or something like that, had just died, and that Auntie had been very busy. Lily hadn't really known what to say, but she had felt sad for Auntie Luna and her family. It was very sad to think about people dying; if it were up to her no one would ever die ever. So that morning Lily had been up on the balcony, trying to cheer herself up and not think about anyone dying when Evey had come running up with that big smile of hers all over her face.

"Lily," she had announced triumphantly, "I have a plan."

"A plan for what?" Lily had asked innocently.

"You'll see," Evey had said, her smile growing even wider, which Lily would have thought was impossible until she actually saw it happen. "It'll be fun, you just have to trust me. It's a really good plan, you'll see."

Lily hadn't even hesitated, she had just nodded enthusiastically. Looking back, that had been her first big mistake.

"I'm going to get you into Hogwarts and show you all around. And if we're lucky, we might even run in to Halo and you'll be able to explain the whole thing to him. We'll call it Operation Awesome, the first mission of Team Nargle!" Evey had said, skipping around the balcony in excitement.

"Operation Awesome?" Lily'd asked sceptically. Apparently Evey's skill at choosing names was very hit-or-miss. Evey had just smiled and ignored Lily, skipping circles around her. "So what do you say? You want to give it a try? Do you, do you?"

Lily had ignored that little voice in her head that was trying to warn her that something might go horribly wrong. All she had said was, "Definitely."

They'd waited until late that afternoon, when all the younger children were leaving, to put Evey's plan into action. They had snuck upstairs to Auntie Luna's spare fireplace. Lily'd felt a little bit guilty as she watched Evey take her Auntie's stash of Floo powder from beside the fireplace. After all, Lily was a good girl, and good girls didn't break any rules or do this kind of thing. But Lily really wanted to see Hogwarts, and she really had to do something about her dreams so that Oxalion the ghosty snake would stop bothering her and she could actually get some sleep. She had dreams and visions so often that most mornings she woke up nearly as tired she'd been the night before. It would be nice to have something to show for all the trouble Oxalion was putting her through. He was definitely the most annoying snake Lily had ever talked to.

"How much Floo powder do you think we need?" Evey had asked, turning to face Lily. Lily'd had absolutely no idea, but she hadn't wanted Evey to know that she didn't know, so she had confidently stepped forward and said, "This much."

Well, she had been wrong.

It was really all Evey's fault, of course, since her stupid plan had been so stupid. Lily bit her blanket in frustration as she lay on her bed, thinking about all the stupid things stupid people did stupidly. Sure, Evey's plan (which she still refused to call Operation Awesome, even in her own mind) had _seemed_ like a good plan, but just like Daddy always said looks could be deceiving. Evey had overheard her father saying that his fireplace would be opened to the Floo Network that afternoon, and she also knew that he had a meeting that afternoon with the other teachers. Her father's fireplace was also protected by a special password that you had to shout before the Floo Network would connect to Hogwarts, but Evey had overheard that too. Normally, there was no way to get in or out of Hogwarts, so this was more or less their only chance to get inside. Evey said that she knew the passages around the school really well, and that as long as they were careful there was no way they would get caught once they got inside. It would be totally fine!

Wrong.

Honestly, the only thing that made all this trouble even a little bit worth it was the fact that Lily had managed to find Halo Wiggins, and even that was complete luck, not because of Evey's oh-so-brilliant plan. Lily still wasn't sure that he was the person that she was supposed to be looking for, but she could definitely tell that there was something special about him. Oh, and his eyes… he had such pretty brown eyes. Not that Lily cared about such things, of course, boys were mean and stupid and nothing but trouble. But even so, he did have very pretty eyes. He hadn't believed her at first, just like everybody else, but right before Auntie had taken her away she had seen a look of understanding as he nodded to her and she knew without a doubt that he believed her. That was the one thing that made all this trouble almost worth it. Almost.

Whatever, Lily thought as she lay on her bed, blanket wrapped around her shoulders, that boy doesn't matter now. Well he did, since hopefully he would find a way to help prevent whatever was going to happen. Even if he did want to help though, there was no way for Lily to communicate with him. If he was going to do something, he would be completely on his own, since she was going to be in trouble from now until the end of time.

Lily was still furious about the injustice of it all, but she was just so tired from all her sleepless nights that she felt her eyes start to close. She took her blanket off her head and lay on top of it. It was far easier to do that than to actually get out of bed and retrieve her pillow. She might have dozed off for a while, because she had no idea how much time passed before Daddy came in. As he watched her from the doorway, Lily thought that Daddy looked just as tired as she did. She worried if maybe he wasn't sleeping well either. But then again, grown-ups were weird, so maybe it was something else entirely. Who could say?

When Daddy saw that Lily was awake and watching him he came in sitting down on the corner of her bed. Lily immediately threw her blanket back over her head and curled into a ball. If Daddy started yelling at her for being a bad girl, she might start crying, and Lily hated when people saw her cry. She looked all ugly and gross when she cried, so she always tried her best to hide behind something. But for some reason Daddy didn't start yelling, he just leaned forward and started tickling her on the bottoms of her feet. Lily was most definitely not-even-a-little-bit-ticklish, but she squirmed and giggled, trying to get away. Of course, she was just doing it for Daddy's sake, since she was absolutely 100% not ticklish.

Lily scrambled out of Daddy's reach and sat up, her blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a cape. She clenched the ends of her blanket in her little hands and rested her head on her hands peering up at her daddy curiously, wondering what was going on. He didn't seem mad at her… why wasn't he mad?

"You've had a long day, haven't you, Lily-bean?" Daddy asked, absentmindedly rubbing his lightning-shaped scar as he spoke. Lily nodded and just continued to watch him with a confused look on her face. She'd been pretty sure that this conversation was going to involve a whole lot more yelling. Not that she was complaining, of course. It was just strange, you know, in a good way.

"Do you want to hear a story, sweetie?" Daddy asked.

Lily nodded again, feeling as excited as she had been all day. She loved stories, especially when Daddy told them. He didn't tell all that many stories, but when he did they were always the best.

"Daddy was very young at the time, not much older than you."

Lily frowned, knowing that couldn't possibly be right. Daddy had never been not much older than her. He had been born a Daddy!

"I was staying with your Grandma and Grandpa Weasley for the summer," continued Daddy. "Not the whole summer, though, only the last few weeks. Your uncles Ron, George and Fred had to rescue… I mean, come get me from your Great-Uncle Dursley's house in a flying car."

"Flying car?" Lily repeated, eyes wide as saucers.

"It was your Grandpa Weasley's. He enchanted an old Ford Anglia that he'd gotten a hold of. You know how mad your grandpa is about anything to do with muggles."

Lily nodded wisely, knowing all too well. All you had to do was give Granddaddy a flashlight or a mechanical pencil or something like that and he would spend the whole day playing with it, trying to figure out how it works. Her cousin Hugo had once shown Grandpa the muggle game system that he loved to play, and Grandpa had looked like he was about to faint. Lily was more than a little worried about what would happen if someone showed him a laptop, an Ipad or a cell phone. Lily was determined to never let that happen.

"Anyways," continued Daddy, "the summer was coming to an end, and it was time to go back to school. The whole Weasley family and I got in your grandpa's car and drove to London to catch the train to Hogwarts. We were running very late that day, and everyone was in a hurry to get into platform 9 and ¾ so that we wouldn't miss the Hogwarts Express. Your mother was starting her first year at Hogwarts, so her parents went on ahead with her while your uncles and I went through one by one. Your Uncle Ron and I were the last two to go through, and we tried to go through the barrier together. But the barrier was blocked, and we both crashed straight into the wall; our luggage flying everywhere."

"Oh no!" Lily said, as if it had just happened. "What happened, why couldn't you get through?"

"It's a bit complicated actually," Daddy said, reaching up to rub his scar again. "It was Dobby who made the barrier, but he thought he was helping me. You remember Dobby, don't you sweetie? We visited his grave."

Lily nodded, thinking back to the little grave that sat beside Uncle Bill's house. Lily visited the grave every year with her family, and Daddy would tell them about Dobby the free elf, who gave his life to save Daddy and his friends. Lily always got sad when she listened to those stories. It just didn't make sense that some people had to die while other people lived and were left behind, feeling sad. Lily thought of Uncle Fred, who had died years before she was born, and all the other people that Lily should know but had never gotten a chance to meet. Dobby and Uncle Fred, her grandparents, Daddy's godfather Sirius Black, Teddy Lupin's parents, and even more people that she couldn't even think of right then because it just made her too sad. It just wasn't fair at all, all those people… Lily clenched her blanket tightly in her fist and forced herself to think about something else before she started crying. "So… so what did you do when you couldn't get through, Daddy?" Lily asked to distract herself.

"Well," Daddy said, looking guilty for some reason. "Ron and I panicked when we couldn't get through. We thought that Ron's parents might not be able to get back across from the platform and that we wouldn't have any way to get to Hogwarts. Then we remembered your grandpa's flying car…"

"No!" Lily said is disbelief. "You didn't!"

"We did," Daddy said with a sigh. Lily just couldn't believe. Her Daddy, the most famoustest wizard in the whole wide world, a troublemaker? It just couldn't be true.

"It made sense to us at the time, though I really couldn't tell you anymore what your uncle and I were thinking. All I can say is that we were so desperate to get back to Hogwarts that we lost our heads a little bit and did something reckless. Do you know what the word reckless means, sweetie?"

Lily didn't have any idea, but she didn't want to say so. She hated not knowing things, so instead of speaking up she just put the tips of her blanket in her mouth and chewed on them, dropping her eyes so that Daddy couldn't see it in her face. Somehow, though, he knew anyways.

"Reckless means doing something wild and dangerous that you know you shouldn't be doing. That day Uncle Ron and I did something reckless to try and get to Hogwarts, and today you did something reckless too. You and your friend Eve knew that you shouldn't be sneaking into the castle without permission, but you did it anyways. Nothing bad happened to you, thank goodness, but you should know that Hogwarts can be a dangerous place for someone who isn't supposed to be there. When we took the flying car, we ended up crashing our car straight into a Whomping Willow and nearly got flattened. We managed to avoid being badly hurt, but your uncle snapped his wand nearly in two and had to go through a whole year of school with a broken wand. It was… not a good year for him."

Lily frowned, thinking about Uncle Ron's favourite story about the time he burped up slugs for a whole day. Lily just thought it was gross and Rose always got up and left the room whenever her father started telling it, but James, Albus and Hugo absolutely loved it. Boys were so stupid.

"What I'm trying to say, Lily-bean, is that you could have put yourself in real danger today. Hogwarts is protected by all sorts of spells, your Aunt Hermione knows all about them, and if you set any of those spells off you're much too young to be able to protect yourself."

"But nothing happened, Daddy," Lily said, feeling as though this whole lecture was a little unnecessary.

"It very easily could have," Daddy cautioned in that daddy-cautioning voice of his. Lily refused to listen to him, though, knowing she was right.

"But it DIDN'T," Lily repeated stubbornly, throwing herself down onto her back and covering her head with her blanket. "We're completely fine! I just wanted to see where Evey lived, that's all. Why is that such a bad thing?"

Daddy sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes as if she was difficult to talk to. That was ridiculous, of course. Lily was very easy to talk to, thank you very much.

"My story isn't actually quite finished, there's one other part of the story I didn't get to," Daddy said after a long pause during which he seemed to be trying to think of that to say. Lily lowered her blanket off of her head, giving her permission for Daddy to continue talking. "When we finally got to Hogwarts, Professor Snape tried his best to kick us out of school, but in the end all we got was one detention. At first it didn't look like we weren't in any serious trouble."

"But I thought detention was trouble," Lily said, confused.

"Oh, yes, of course it is," Daddy said quickly. "You shouldn't go around getting detention like-"

"-like you did, Daddy," Lily said, snickering. This was great, she had never known that her Daddy was such a troublemaker!

"Well, the point is," Daddy said, quickly changing the subject, "we could have easily gotten in much bigger trouble than we did. Headmaster Dumbledore would have been totally within his rights to expel us. You too, Lily, could have gotten in very, very big trouble for sneaking into Hogwarts like that."

"You mean like being sent to Azkaban?" Lily said in a little voice.

"Maybe," Daddy said ominously. "You never know what the Ministry might do."

Lily whimpered, cowering behind her blanket. She had never even considered that such a horrible thing might happen. Azkaban was the very most horrible place in the whole world, if half of the stories her brothers liked to tell her were true. Albus said that they hung people out of windows upside-down by their tongues and fed them to dragons and yeti and sea monsters and things. The place was probably crawling with Nargles!

"But the very worst punishment came the following day," Daddy continued in the same tone. "That morning, your grandmother sent Ron a howler."

"A howler?" Lily asked, confused. She knew all about howlers, and was even working on elaborate schemes to send one to Albus at school. At present, she did not have any working plans. Still, as bad as howlers were, they were hardly worse than almost being sent to Azkaban. So what did Daddy mean?

"Your Grandmother's howler basically said that your grandparents were furious at Ron, and that we were very lucky that we hadn't been hurt or expelled. But it was worse than all that, because you see we had never stopped to consider what your grandparents must have thought when we just disappeared with the car. I know you can't understand this, Lily, but there is nothing you worry about more than your children. One day, Lily, you'll be a witch, all grown-up, and you'll have children of your own. When you do sweetie, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about."

"You don't have to worry you know," Lily muttered, letting Daddy's words go in one ear and right out the other. Grown-ups worried too much about all the wrong things. The world was in danger, not her. _She _was perfectly fine.

"In a way, you're right, Lily," Daddy said, catching her by surprise, "because that wasn't even that wasn't the very worst thing about the whole incident. You see, Professor Dumbledore sent two letters that night. The first was to Ron's parents, and the second was to my Aunt and Uncle, telling exactly what happened. You know what they did with the letter? Absolutely nothing. Most likely they didn't even open it, just threw it away. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia couldn't have cared less, and were probably just upset that the crash hadn't been more serious."

Lily gaped at her Daddy, unable to believe it. She had never met her Great Aunt and Uncle, only Daddy's cousin Dudley and his children. She didn't like them much, and Mum always said that Dudley's parents were much, much worse. But she had never known they were like this.

"Don't you understand, Lily?" Daddy said, leaning forward to put his arm on her shoulder. "Not everyone is as lucky as you, to be born into a family where your parents love you. If that means that we worry about you a little too much, then I'm sorry about that. But believe me, sweetie, it is far better than the alternative. So please try to be careful, for our sake. There's no reason to worry your poor mother like that. She spends enough time worrying about your brothers."

Lily nodded, finally feeling a little bit bad for the trouble she had caused Daddy and Mum. She hadn't meant to. Still, though, what she had done was absolutely necessary. She wasn't just a silly little girl acting out, she was on a mission. She was member of Team Nargle, bound to a sacred quest to save the world.

"I'm sorry I worried you and Mum, I really am," Lily said, actually meaning it. "But, I just- I had to go, it was really important."

Daddy frowned, looking at her curiously. "What do you mean, Lily?"

Lily chewed her nails as she looked up at Daddy, wondering what to say. She wished she could just explain everything to him, but every time she tried she could never get the words to sound right. She had tried to tell Daddy about her dreams before, but he never believed her. Was there really any point in trying again?

"There's just-something bad is going to happen, I just know it. I-I can't explain how, but I just know. I had to warn... people." It was a terrible explanation, and Lily knew it. She was furious at herself for not being able to say things right, but it couldn't be helped. Daddy probably wouldn't have believed her anyways.

"Lily," Daddy began in that tone he used when he didn't believe her. She flung herself onto the bed and stuffed her blanket over her head, trying her very best not to cry. Just like always, though, her best wasn't good enough.

"We're not just dumb little kids anymore!" Lily shouted from underneath her blanket as the tears began to fall. "Bad things are going to happen, and even if you won't do anything to stop it my brothers and I will. We're Potters, just like you Daddy!"

"Lily-" Daddy tried to say, but she wasn't hearing any of it.

"JUST GO AWAY!" She shrieked, her tears soaking her blanket. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Daddy didn't say anything else, and when Lily had finally calmed down enough to peak out from under the covers she saw that he was gone. She curled up into a ball and didn't even bother to change into her pyjamas. She was too miserable to move and just wanted to go to sleep and put an end to this horrible, terrible, awful day. Less than a minute later, she managed to do just that, falling into a deep sleep. Somehow, Oxalion must have sensed her mood, for he didn't bother her dreams that night. For once, she actually slept soundly the whole night through.

Chapter 25.5 Part II Passing the Torch

About an hour later Ron found Harry on the roof, looking up at the moon. He knew that look on his old friend's face. That look meant trouble.

"How'd it go?" Ron asked casually, leaning against the chimney. Harry sighed, and Ron knew all that he needed to know. It wasn't entirely unexpected. After all, Lily was Ginny's daughter, so she could be stubborn as an ox if she wanted to be.

"Well, sneaking _into_ a school isn't the worst thing a little girl could be caught doing," Ron said, trying to ease his friend's worry. He waved his wand lazily and summoned two butterbeers from the parlour below. He reached out and caught one for himself, putting the other beside Harry. Ron took a sip of his, but Harry's just sat there, untouched and ignored. Ron sighed again. It was going to be one of those nights.

"I tried to get it through her head how serious it was, saying that she could have been sent to Azkaban, which is nonsense of course." Harry said, shaking his head. "Am I really that bad of a parent that I have to lie to my own daughter?"

"Parenting is lying to your kids," Ron said, taking another sip. "How else are they supposed to learn not to pick up all your bad habits?"

Harry almost smiled, but there was something else on his mind. He finally reached down and took a little sip of his butterbeer, and turned back to stare at the moon.

"Lily said something that worries me even more," Harry said. "She seems to think some sort of disaster is going to happen at Hogwarts. I tried to reassure her, but she wouldn't listen to a word I said. This isn't the first time she's said things like that either, but I think it's getting worse. She won't even let me reassure her anymore."

"She's growing up, that's all," Ron said, trying to pull Harry's spirits up from whatever depths they had sunk to. "Ginny was an absolute nightmare at that age, if I remember correctly."

This time Harry did smile slightly, and Ron smiled wide, relieved that it was finally working. Ron decided to play his trump card, sure that it would work. "So did you catch that Chudley Cannon's match? Vassily Orlov is a hell of a seeker."

"He's got some moves, but his dives are a little sloppy," Harry said, rising to the bait. Ron knew there was nothing Harry missed more than Quidditch. He could talk about seeking for hours. Of course, so could Ron.

Their conversation lasted only minutes, though, for someone else arrived on the roof before they could have an in-depth discussion of the skills (or lack thereof) of the Cannon's reserve keeper, Inglebird Finch. Actually, _landed_ would be a more accurate term than arrived, for Luna dropped right out of the sky.

"Hello Harry, Ronald," Luna said, beaming at them and dusting herself off. "Ginny said you would be up here. She seemed to think you were upset..." Luna blinked at Harry critically, as if trying to gauge his mood. Ron didn't think Harry looked all that upset. Confused, absolutely, but not upset. Apparently Luna agreed.

"Well, seems Ginny was wrong," Luna said cheerfully, reaching into her robes. "But you can have these cream cheese saffron squash cookies anyways. They're sure to cheer anybody up."

"Er, thanks Luna," Harry said, while Ron did his best not to laugh too loudly. Luna was literally the funniest person Ron had ever met.

"You can have one too, of course," Luna said, turning to look at Ron. "I made more than enough."

"No Luna, that's all right-" Ron tried to say, but the words didn't make it in time. Before he could protest, Harry had stuck one of the cookie-like things into his hand.

"Enjoy, mate," Harry said darkly, plainly giving him a look that said if I have to eat one you have to eat one. Ron hesitated as long as he could before taking a bite. It wasn't the worst thing he had ever had, but that was only because he'd had Hagrid's cooking. Luna, naturally, beamed at the pair of them.

"So I heard about Eve and Lily," Luna said, sounding more serious than usual. "I never thought that those two would try something like that. After all, the Floo network is infested with powder pixies. The girls were lucky they weren't caught.

Neither Harry nor Ron bothered to tell Luna that there was no such thing as powder pixies. They had both known Luna long enough not to waste breath on such things. Instead, Harry just told Luna everything that had happened. Ron said nothing, just listened and sipped his butterbeer.

"Have you considered that Lily is telling the truth?" Luna said when Harry finished. Harry turned to Ron, and give him the _why did I even tell her_ look.

"Haven't you felt it, either of you?" Luna asked, turning back and forth between Ron and Harry with her head cocked to one side. "It's so quiet, like right before a storm. Something's happening, something big. It's a kind of tingle that you can feel in your fingers."

"Not you too," Harry said, sighing. Luna just smiled and shook her head, as if she was as unable to believe Harry's logic as he was to believe her illogic. Ron frowned though, putting his butterbeer down. He didn't like to acknowledge it, but he actually knew exactly what Luna was talking about. He'd been feeling uneasy for weeks, as if there were something important that he couldn't quite remember. Luna might have some unorthodox beliefs, but she also had very good instincts.

"Well, I have to go cheer up Ginny. Look after Rowena for me, if you could," Luna said, waving as she floated over the staircase leading down the house. Ron was puzzled for a moment before looking more closely at Harry's lawn. Sitting on the grass, as content as could be, was a thestral, flapping its large bat wings in a bored sort of way. Only Luna, he thought to himself in disbelief. Ron thought back suddenly to that cold, terrifying flight to London all those years ago. He hadn't been able to see them back then. That seemed like such a very long time ago.

"What do you reckon," Ron said, glancing sideways at Harry, "just the same old Loony Lovegood?" He was hoping Harry would take the hint. He didn't want his mate thinking he was bonkers.

"Maybe," Harry said, cradling his butterbeer uneasily, "but honestly it has been a strange few months at the Ministry. Other than the business with the Lestrange girl, it's been unusually quiet. The whole country's in a grim mood, and it's even starting to affect the wizards. It's because of all the terrorist attacks this year. Four in one year; that's unheard of."

Ron didn't really understand muggle politics that well, but he certainly understood violence and bloodshed. He'd seen more than enough to want to stop any more.

"Is the Ministry going to get involved?"

"The Minister won't allow it," Harry said, sighing. "It's got nothing to do with wizards, so the Ministry can't intervene unless specifically asked to by the Prime Minister. So far, that hasn't happened, and it doesn't look very likely that it will anytime soon."

They were quiet for a while, and Ron kept thinking about his niece. She was still so young, so full of life and innocence. Yet, in some ways, she was also very mature, far more mature than Hugo was. And Harry's boys weren't little babies anymore. They were at Hogwarts now, well on their way to becoming full wizards. Perhaps it was time.

"Harry, do you remember the conversation we had after Lily was born?" Ron asked.

"So you were thinking about that too, huh?" Harry said, sighing. "It seems like only yesterday."

"But it wasn't," Ron said, seeing that Harry would need some convincing. "It was nine years, and your children have grown up so much since then."

"They're still children," Harry said, turning to face away from Ron. "And completely safe at Hogwarts. What could they possibly need those things for? They'll only get themselves in trouble like…"

"Like we did? Isn't that what childhood is all about?"

Harry didn't respond. He reached down and opened the pouch on his belt that Hermione had made for him years ago. Very slowly, Harry drew out his father's invisibility cloak, which had been passed down from parent to child for hundreds of years. Ron felt a chill like he always did when he saw it—the ancient, great artefact that formed one third of the Deathly Hallows. Who would have known it from all the times they had snuck out of the castle to visit Hagrid, thinking it was just like any other cloak of invisibility?

"They're ready," Ron said, placing his hand on Harry's shoulder, "or as ready as you were when Dumbledore gave it to you."

"I hope they never need it," Harry whispered, staring up at the stars.

"So do I, mate," Ron said, sighing heavily. This feeling… why couldn't he shake this feeling of unease? Was he really letting Luna spook him like this? How crazy was that?

"The other things too, right?" Ron said, afraid that Harry might back out. He was a bit too overprotective as a parent for Ron's taste.

"Yeah," Harry said, "all of it. Except… not Lily's things. She's still too young. And anyways, I don't want to scare her. She has to learn that there's nothing out there to be afraid of. We will always be there to protect her."

Ron didn't say anything. He knew that there was as little point arguing with Harry as there was with Luna. And it was, after all, Harry's decision to make. Still there was the same, annoying feeling that he just couldn't shake. It had been so quiet for so many years, that it was easy to forget that darkness still existed in the word.

But as Dad liked to say, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

Ron said goodnight to Harry and got ready to go home. He had to talk to Hermione, sharing this… whatever he was feeling. He knew without a doubt that if anything was happening, his wife would find out what it was. She was just freaking amazing like that.

Plus, Ron had his own package to send to Hogwarts.


	29. Chapter 26

Chapter 26 The Hogwarts Obscure Magic Appreciation Club

"I-er-well… thank you all for coming," Halo said, feeling very uncomfortable despite the nice, comfortable chair he was sitting in. The others all just stared at him, probably waiting for him to say something a little less lame. After all, they had all gathered in the library because he'd asked them to, so he really had to say something. Halo took a deep breath and shook his head to clear it. Why was talking to groups always so hard?

They all just kept watching him, sitting in a semi-circle of chairs facing him at the back of the library between the section on dragons and the section on magical fungi. On the far left sat Atalanta, who had decided to show up after all. She looked incredibly bored, and that was the main source of Harry's nervousness, since a bored Atalanta was a scary Atalanta. Near Atalanta, but not too close, were Halo's fellow first-year Slytherins. They had all shown up— J.B., Sam, Scorpius, and even Courtney and Kevin. Actually, Halo wasn't quite sure why those two were here, since they had both specifically told him the night before that they wouldn't be coming. He figured that someone (probably Sam) must have forced them to show up. Halo wasn't entirely sure if it was a good thing they were there or not, since neither had ever been particularly nice or helpful. On the other hand, it felt right that they were all there together. There was plenty that was wrong with the Slytherin House, but at least they stuck with each other, no matter what.

Directly opposite Halo sat Cassy, who had agreed to come the moment Halo had asked her to that morning. She gave her brother an encouraging smile, which immediately made Halo feel a little better. Things never seemed quite so hard when Cassy was there. Next to Cassy sat Sora, who looked very calm and cool as he sat there, patiently waiting for Halo to speak. Halo honestly had no idea why Sora was there, since he hadn't thought to invite him. Someone else must have told the boy to come, though Halo had no idea who would have done that. Still, uninvited or not, Halo was glad he was there. Sora had a kind of general coolness that always made him feel better. Right next to Sora sat Rose, who smiled at him just like Cassy had. Despite the smile, Halo could tell that Rose was just about ready to burst with a thousand questions. James had given her Halo's message to meet up in the library, but her cousin probably hadn't told her _why_ they were all meeting. Knowing Rose, she was probably going mad from curiosity.

Next to Rose were Shandra Higgins and Annie Trout, two Gryffindor first-years who Halo hadn't spoken to very much since the first day of school. He had liked them back when he'd met them right after getting off the train, but he'd felt weird around them ever since he had been sorted into Slytherin. They were both muggle born, and he was a little bit afraid that they might be angry with him for being sorted into a house of pureblood fanatics. They were both here though, and both had been perfectly nice to him, so it could all just be in his head. Even so, the girls still made him nervous. If they didn't believe his story and just thought that he was mad, then the others would be more likely to doubt him too. Halo really didn't want all the people he liked at the school thinking he was bonkers.

Next to Annie sat Albus, and next to Albus sat James. The older Potter brother was the only person not looking at Halo, instead he just sat there twirling his wand in his hands. Halo wasn't surprised, but he was a little sad that James was pointedly ignoring him. He had hoped that when James agreed to help him gather this little group together the two of them could start repairing their relationship and maybe even become friends. Apparently not.

Sitting at the far edge of the semi-circle of chairs, closer to James than to anyone else, was Cleo, who sat curled up in her chair with her knees tucked beneath her chin. She was watching Halo closely with her bright blue eyes, looking as curious as Halo had ever seen her. Halo hadn't told her what they were meeting about either, but she had been willing to come along with him anyways. He knew that she didn't like big groups, but it was no big deal for her to come to the library.

"Well, are you going to tell us why you dragged us down here, half-… er, Harry?" Courtney asked, earning glares from the Gryffindors and Cassy. She had been about to use her favourite nickname for him, _half-breed_, but had stopped herself halfway through. Calling him something like that would get her in a lot of trouble outside of the Slytherin common room, even though it really didn't bother Halo that much anymore. Words were just words, and he could ignore them pretty easily if he wanted to. He'd had plenty of practice ignoring Courtney since school started.

"Yes," Halo said in the most serious, mature-sounding voice he could. "I asked everyone to come here because there is a threat to Hogwarts, and possibly even the whole world."

The words went over about how Halo had figured they would. No one looked particularly convinced except James, who only believed him because of Lily, not because of him. Everyone else looked either confused or highly sceptical. Well, at least no one laughed, Halo thought to himself dully. That would have been awful.

"What kind of threat?" Sora asked, looking less sceptical than the others. Then again, maybe he was just too polite to show how crazy he thought Halo was. That was probably it.

"I-I don't know exactly," Halo said, wishing he could say something else that would make him sound even a little less credible.

"Well, then how do you know something is going to happen?" Sam asked, watching Halo closely. She looked as though she was reserving judgement on whether or not to believe him.

"I…" Halo glanced quickly at James, who shook his head subtly. No one else saw the gesture, but Halo understood it plainly. James didn't want everyone to know about Lily and her visions, and Halo could understand why. James was just trying to protect his little sister. Still, Halo really didn't like keeping secrets from people, since it only made everything harder in the long run. He had called everyone here to tell them all truth, so it was really annoying that he had to keep the truth hidden for now.

"I had a vision of some kind of terrible magic that will destroy the castle and set the sky on fire," Halo said, willing them all to believe. If they didn't agree to help him and he had to find a way to stop this all alone, he didn't know what he would do.

No one said anything, and they all continued to stare at him. Halo thought back on his dream, or rather Lily's dream, trying to think of something else that would convince them all that he was telling the truth. The problem was that there were still things that he didn't really understand. In Lily's dream, there had been a ghost-snake that was every bit as creepy as the ghosts at Hogwarts, except worse since it was also a snake. Somehow Lily had been able to talk to the snake, but Halo didn't understand a single thing they had said, even though he had witnessed the whole conversation himself. He hadn't even known that it was possible for someone to talk to snakes, and was a little jealous, even though he hated snakes even more than he disliked other animals. He didn't have to like snakes to think it would be freaking amazing to be able to talk to one. None of that helped him think of a way to convince the others, though, and Halo shook his head to clear it. He had to focus.

"Set the sky on fire," Shandra echoed slowly. She didn't sound as though she thought he was crazy, which was a huge relief. "Is something like that even possible?"

"Of course. If Halo says it's going to happen, then it is," Cleo said, surprising them all. Some of them had probably never heard her talk before, and she so rarely said anything unless asked a direct question. Halo beamed at Cleo, who almost smiled back at him. Her faith in him made him feel so much better.

"I agree too. Theoretically, it should be possible, since almost anything is possible if you use magic," Cassy said thoughtfully, not doubting Halo for a moment. If her brother said that something terrible was going to happen, then all that was left was to find a way to stop it. His word was more than good enough for her. "If you have enough power," Cassy continued, speaking to Shandra, "there's really no limit to what you can do."

"Even setting the sky on fire?" Kevin asked sceptically, crossing his arms over his chest. He was clearly not convinced. "Something like that would take more power than a thousand wizards could produce put together, wouldn't it?"

"Not necessarily," Atalanta said as Cassy played with her wild blonde hair, trying to think of an answer. Cassy scowled, upset that Atalanta had thought of the answer before her. The Selwyn girl was always outshining her, it seemed. She hated it. "All you would need is a strong enough catalyst."

"What do you mean, Atalanta?" J.B. asked, leaning forward to rest his chin on his arm, which was propped on his knee. Halo didn't really understand himself, but he was glad he hadn't had to ask. He didn't want Atalanta to think he was stupid.

Atalanta sighed, as though having to explain things to other people was some sort of horrible punishment. "Simply put, a catalyst is something that lowers the amount of magical energy necessary to accomplish a specific task. It's basically just the technical term for a shortcut, and magic is all about using shortcuts to conserve energy. Say for example that you wanted to move an extremely heavy box from one end of the room to another. It's too heavy to move without magic, so what would you do? You could simply use a repulsing spell to push it across the room, but that would take a while and waste a lot of energy. You could use a hover charm to levitate the box and send it across the room, which is probably what most witches and wizards would do. That would save you some energy, but it really isn't the most effective way to move the box. What do you think would work better, Halo?"

Halo jumped slightly, not expecting there to be a quiz. Atalanta watched him closely, waiting for his answer as if she were some amateur professor. Halo had no idea why the girl was testing him, she did some very strange things sometimes, but he didn't want to disappoint her. He thought for a moment, trying to think what he would do. He was rubbish when it came to charms, so he would probably use transfiguration instead of a charm. "Well," he said, "you could transfigure the outside of the box into something similar but much easier to move, like ice. That way it would be really easy to move."

"Very good, Halo," Atalanta said approvingly, and Halo figured that he must have passed her little test. "You are very nearly right. All you really need to do is transfigure the bottom of the box to ice. That would make the transfiguration even easier, and save even more energy. Moving the box then would be as simple as casting a basic repulsing charm and sliding the box across the room with virtually no resistance."

"That's nice and all, but what does this have to do with anything?" James asked glaring at Atalanta with a look he seemed to reserve just for Slytherins. "Anyone could just use a hover charm and move the box, it's not that hard. It's a pretty basic spell that everyone learns in their first year. Who cares if it uses more energy, it's such an easy spell that it doesn't matter."

The Slytherins shot James a nasty look, and Halo saw J.B. mutter some unflattering things under his breath. Halo fully expected Atalanta to chew James up and spit him out, but instead she just smiled and said, "Most people would agree with you, Potter, but they are wrong. That is why people like us always have the advantage over people like you."

It was the Gryffindor's turn to mutter angrily to each other. Atalanta, though was not done speaking, and no one was foolish enough to interrupt her. "It's true that anyone should be able to move a box, but what about a 30 tonne storage container, or a muggle tank, or even a building? You could never move a something like that with a hover charm. I could move them, though, because I actually put some thought into how I use my magic."

"Yeah, well, I don't have to move any tanks," James muttered. Halo thought that was a rather lame thing to say, and his fellow Slytherins agreed, laughing to each other as James turned red. The Slytherins and Gryffindors sat glaring at each other, probably making a list of their favourite hexes in their minds. Halo looked nervously at Cassy, but there was nothing that either of them could do. At this point, Halo began to seriously question the wisdom of this meeting. Inviting students from both houses, even if they were all there for him, was looking like it might end in duelling.

In the end, it was Atalanta who calmed everyone down. "This crap is a waste of time," she said, reaching out to grab J.B.'s arm before he could draw his wand, which he had been on the verge of doing. "If what Halo is saying is true, there is no time to waste on bickering. And to answer your question, Potter, this has everything to do with Halo's vision. Just like my transfiguration acts as a catalyst allowing even the heaviest things to be moved easily, someone might be able to find a way to set the sky on fire with a simpler spell. They would simply need to use a strong enough catalyst."

"What kind of catalyst?" Scorpius asked, sounding afraid, which wasn't all that unusual for him.

"No idea," Atalanta said with a shrug, "I really haven't given it much thought, since I never had any desire to burn up the world. I only know that it is theoretically possible, even for one wizard."

For Halo, the way Atalanta said it opened his eyes in a way they had never been opened before. If what she was saying was true, then each and every one of them had the power to destroy the world if they wanted to badly enough. It would only take one person, one single wizard who was evil or crazy or just confused, to cause enough damage to kill hundreds or even thousands of people. Halo looked down at his hands in disbelief, unable to wrap his mind around it. He had the power to end the world inside of him… how mad was that? It was way too much power for any one person; he didn't want to be able to do all that. As Halo looked down at his hands, he started trembling, and he found that he couldn't stop. It was so overwhelming that it was all he could do to not lose control completely and start crying like a little girl. All this power, it made him… made him some kind of monster!

The others must have been feeling something similar, because they were all completely silent. Seconds passed, a minute maybe, and he felt himself start shaking worse than ever, and tears started forming in his eyes. Then suddenly Cleo was there, moving to crouch down in front of him. She reached out and took his hand, squeezing it gently as she looked into his eyes calmly. He knew without a doubt that she understood exactly what he was feeling, since he had shaking just like this more than a few times. She had experienced first-hand just how much power one witch could have, and the things that could be done with that power. After a deep, shuddering breath he managed to calm himself down and think clearly again. He was no monster, because he would never use his power for something so horrible. In fact, he wanted to use his power to protect others and stop those people, whoever they were, that did want to hurt others or do horrible things. It wasn't the power itself that should be feared, but rather the people who wanted to misuse it. Cleo was a perfect example of that. She was more powerful than anyone he had ever met, and even after the things he had seen her do he trusted her completely. He knew that she would never harm him, no matter what. Halo squeezed her hand in thanks and got to his feet, turning to address them all.

"Listen, everyone. I know that I can't prove what I saw, but I know without a doubt that it will happen if we don't stop it. Someone, somehow is going to do something terrible, and it is going to happen here at Hogwarts. I need your help, all of you, to stop it. Please."

No one spoke for a moment as they looked at him and at each other. Halo Wiggins could be very convincing when he wanted to be, even without proof. Plus, none of them could think of any possible reason why we would lie to them about something like this. And, of course, he had those compelling, innocent eyes of his. The others seemed to make up their minds as one, and when Rose Weasley spoke, she spoke for all of them… even Courtney.

"What do you need us to do?"

It was a really nice moment, but unfortunately Halo had to go ruin it. "Honestly, I have no idea," he muttered quietly, sitting down in his chair. He looked to Cleo who was sitting on the ground beside his chair, but she didn't have any ideas either. They were all still completely in the dark over what to do.

"You don't have anything to go on, any clues at all?" Sam asked. Halo wished she hadn't sounded quite so accusatory when she spoke. After all, it wasn't his fault, he had just learned about this stuff yesterday. He wished he had something to go off of, no matter how small. Then he remembered his wand, and the book he had seen in the library.

"Wait, there is one thing!" Halo said excitedly, causing Annie and Albus to jump in surprise. "There was a book that my wand told me was important, but I didn't get a chance to look at it, really."

He didn't really understand why everyone was looking at him strangely until Albus said, "Your… your wand told you?"

Halo couldn't think of any way to explain the things that his wand was doing, since he really didn't understand it himself, so he quickly backtracked. "No I, er, I just meant that when I saw the book I knew it was important."

"Then why did you say-" Courtney began obnoxiously.

"What book are you talking about?" Cassy asked, interrupting her. She could tell that her brother didn't want to talk about it. Halo was glad for the distraction, and immediately began explaining as quickly as he could. "Cleo and I were in the library, sorting through a huge stack of books donated to Hogwarts. I came across a book called Blood Magik, the Something Something Art of Wizardry by Grayson Vance. I tried to show it to the librarian, but she just took it away from me and said it was banned. There's something in that book that will help us, I'm sure of it."

"Blood magic," said Shandra, exchanging looks with Annie. "That just sounds creepy. What is it?"

Halo and many of the others looked expectantly at Atalanta, who just frowned. "I've never heard of blood magic," she said, looking annoyed that she didn't have the answer. "It must be some kind of obscure ancient magic that isn't practiced anymore. Blood plays no part in the magic we use today."

"We have to get a look at that book then," Rose said, her voice full of determination. "If there really is some kind of magic none of us have ever heard of, then we have to learn more about it."

"I agree," Cassy said, "Most likely, the catalyst the attackers will use is related to this blood magic somehow."

"I'll ask the librarian to see the book, pretending I'm doing research for Defence against the Dark Arts. I'm a fifth year, so she might allow it, but if the book really banned I might not be able to get my hands on it," Atalanta said. "You'll have to think of another way to get a copy."

"We can help with that," Courtney said, indicating the other first-year Slytherins. "We're all from very old wizarding families, and if we don't own a copy of the book our parents should be able to find one." Courtney hadn't really meant to sound condescending when she said it, Halo thought she was actually trying to be helpful for once, but Annie and Shandra both looked uncomfortable. Halo knew that they were from muggle families, and so had no connections of any kind in the wizarding world.

"That sounds good. Shandra, Annie, I need you and the other Gryffindors to keep an eye out for suspicious activity around the school," Halo said, picking them out specifically so they wouldn't feel so bad. "Given that the incident will happen here, it seems likely that a student might be involved."

That brought a heavy silence to the group. Was it really possible that someone at the school, one of their fellow student, might really try to set the world on fire? That seemed too terrible to consider.

"Well, it's a good thing that there are students from each house here," Sora said, "since that way we can keep an eye on every common room." Halo hadn't planned it that way at all, but was glad it had worked out. If any of the students were planning something at Hogwarts, they should be able to catch them.

"Isn't there anything else that we can do?" Shandra asked, looking determined to be helpful. "I don't like just watching and waiting for something to happen."

Most of the others nodded in agreement, and Halo completely understood where they were coming from. Unfortunately until they knew more, until they got some other clue, there was nothing they could do.

"We must all be patient," Atalanta said, taking control of the situation in that cool, calm and collected Atalanta way she had. "If we all keep our eyes open, there's no way our enemy will be able to destroy the school. Isn't that right Halo?"

"Er, yeah, that's right," Halo said with nowhere near as much authority as Atalanta. She was a natural leader, albeit not a warm and cuddly one, and he really wasn't. "I think that's enough for now. Let's meet back here next Saturday so we can tell each other what we learned."

"Unless one of us finds something," Cassy added, "In which case that person should tell Halo immediately. He is the leader of this little group, after all."

Courtney and Kevin both glanced at Halo dismissively, clearly not as willing to accept him as leader as the others were. It made him feel a little strange to be called the leader, especially since there seemed to be so many more qualified people around. Atalanta, Cassy, Sora, and even James all seemed older, cooler and more capable than he was. But none of them stepped forward to take control, and they all just sat there looking at him expectantly. It was… well, it was just weird.

"We should have some kind of group name, so that we can talk around other people without them finding out," Rose said. Halo just shook his head and smiled. Rose Weasley thought of the strangest things, but she always seemed to be right.

"You'll have to think of one later," Atalanta said quietly, "because we're out of time for today."

Halo followed her eyes, and saw Professor Mason walking towards them, eyeing their group with interest. "Good morning, students," the professor said as he reached them, "this is quite the little gathering. May I ask what you're all doing in the library on a Saturday morning?"

Halo and the others all exchanged glances, wondering what to say. Did they dare tell the professor about Halo's vision and hope he believed them? They were all waiting for Halo to speak, and he knew it was his decision to make. It didn't really take him long to make up his mind. There was no way that Professor Mason, or any adult for that matter, would believe him without any evidence of any kind. He was so grateful that his friends had believed him, but there was no way to bet that anyone else would. And if the professor did end up thinking he was mad, it would make learning the truth that much harder.

"We, um, are thinking of forming a new… uh… school club," Halo said, thinking on his feet as best he could. The others did their best not to look surprised, and a few of them nodded in agreement. Courtney, though, didn't help things at all by rolling her eyes annoyingly. Thankfully, Professor Mason didn't seem to see her.

"A club," Professor Mason repeated, looking at the group with a penetrating, intelligent look in his eye. "What kind of club would that be?"

"The Hogwarts Obscure Magic Appreciation Club," Rose said without hesitation, lying so convincingly that Halo almost believed it was true, even though he knew it was complete rubbish. "We wanted to learn about all kinds of magic, even the obscure ones that no one really knows anything about."

"My, that is ambitious," Professor Mason said with a hint of a smile on his face. "Have you gotten approval from the headmistress to form this... unusual group?"

"I was, er, just about to ask permission, professor," Halo said, lying on the fly. For whatever reason, he didn't feel nearly as guilty lying to an adult as he did about keeping secrets from his friends.

"Well, you're in luck Mr. Wiggins, because I was just sent here to bring the Potter boys and Ms. Weasley to see the Headmistress. It seems that they have packages waiting for them in the Headmistress's study."

"Packages?" Courtney asked nosily. "What kind of packages, and why didn't they arrive with the morning mail?"

"That is none of your concern, Ms. Stubbs," Professor Mason said, shutting her up quickly. Halo needed to learn how to get her to shut up like that. It would make his life so much better. "Now, why don't the three of you and Mr. Wiggins come with me? It wouldn't do to keep the headmistress waiting."

Halo nodded nervously as Rose, Albus and James got to their feet and curiously followed the professor out of the library. Halo was really not looking forward to going to the headmistress's office and lying about what they were all doing. After all the trust Headmistress Sprout had put in him, he really didn't like deceiving her, but he was too far in to back out now. "I'll see you all later, after I, um, get permission to start the club." With that he left Cassy and the others behind and hurried after Rose and her cousins.

And so Halo went back to the headmistress's office yet again. At least this time he hadn't done anything wrong. Well, except lie a little.


	30. Chapter 27

Chapter 27 Albus Severus

That morning's walk through Hogwarts was unlike any that Halo had ever experienced. It was late Saturday morning, and every student in the entire school seemed to be standing in the halls, seemingly just waiting around so that they could stare at Halo, Rose, Albus and James as they went past. Halo didn't find the staring itself to be all that strange, since he was used to being stared at when he walked down the hallways with Cleo, but this was different. When he was with Cleo, it was mostly glares, wide-eyed and fearful looks, or muffled insults that followed her as they walked. This time, though, the students mostly stared at the Potters and Rose with open admiration, awe, and here and there a hint of jealousy. It was certainly uncomfortable, but nothing like the hostility that Cleo faced on a daily basis.

The attention clearly made Albus uncomfortable, because the boy kept his head down and didn't make eye contact with anyone as he walked by. Halo could understand where the boy was coming from, he wouldn't want to be stared at like that everywhere he went, but at the same time it really wasn't _that_ bad. Honestly, Albus almost looked as if he was being tortured. Rose looked uncomfortable as well, but she seemed to be able to handle it a little better. She smiled politely at the students she recognized and returned a few waves from complete strangers who knew nothing about her except that she was her parents' daughter. Halo suspected that Rose secretly liked the attention, while at the same time recognizing that it was all fake and rather silly.

Then, of course, there was James. Albus's older brother smiled and laughed, sharing jokes with the other students as he walked past. James was clearly very popular, but Halo wondered how many of these people really were James's friend and how many were just pretending. He didn't claim to be an expert on these things, of course, but Father had warned him about people who tried too hard to seem like your friend. "Harry," Father would say, "if someone laughs at all your jokes, then you either ought to become a stand-up comedian or they want something from you." Halo had never known Father to be wrong, so he had no reason to doubt him here. These people were all just treating James Potter this way because of his famous name, and he was letting it go straight to his head. Halo wondering if he ought to say something to James, but quickly decided it would be pointless. The boy would never listen to him, and anyways he clearly liked the attention too much.

When they were about halfway there Rose turned to Halo and opened her mouth to speak. She must have finally gotten tired of awkwardly following behind the silent Professor Mason, who was probably too busy thinking whatever thoughts professors liked to think to say anything to them. "I'm sorry I invited Annie and Shandra without asking you. They were eating breakfast right next to us, and they sounded interested when they heard your name."

"R-really?" Halo said, his stomach doing this strange thing were it felt as though someone had shovelled hot coals inside him, except that it didn't hurt, it just made him feel all tingly. It was… he was just surprised that Shandra had agreed to come, just for him. Oh and Annie too, of course. He felt really, really strange, so he started talking most to distract himself. Rose's smile was a little too smug, and he could tell that she knew exactly what he was thinking, which was amazing since _he_ didn't even know what he was thinking. He started speaking, but didn't have anything to say until about halfway through, so his words came out something like, "So-um, did… were you the one who invited Sora too?"

"Sora?" Rose asked, confused. "No, I didn't invite him, I thought you had. I don't really know him at all, he never really introduced himself." She blushed slightly, and now it was Halo's turn to smile smugly.

"You know, Rose, you could always tell him how famous you are," Halo said, blinking his eyes innocently.

"Shut it."

"I mean, you are the daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley, heroes of the wizarding world."

"I said shut it, git." It was difficult to tell which was redder, Rose's hair or her face.

"I think it was probably the Crabbe girl," Albus said dully, still bothered by the staring people around them. "I see them talking in the hallways sometimes."

"Really?" Halo asked, taken completely off-guard. He had actually been under the impression that Sam rather hated Sora. Girls certainly weren't easy to figure out. Rose looked crestfallen at the news, and Halo took the opportunity to tease her some more. He knew he shouldn't, but at the same time he was certain that if the roles were reversed she would do the same to him. Plus, that's what friends are for.

"Don't worry, Rosie," Halo said, patting her on the back sympathetically. "I'm sure true love will win out in the end." Rose whirled to face him, wand in hand, and Halo decided it was best to keep quit while he was still un-hexed. He smiled innocently and put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. Rose snorted disparagingly and turned away, moving up to walk beside James. Halo felt a little bit bad, but at least Albus looked marginally more cheerful now that Rose had been thoroughly teased. Albus gave him a thumbs up, and together the two of them hurried after Rose to make sure they didn't get left behind.

Professor Mason left them by the all-too-familiar gargoyle, claiming he had something else to do. His eyes lingered on Halo though, as he said, "Let me know how it goes for you, Mr. Wiggins. Your extracurricular activities certain are… interesting." With that he said the password (_Coprinus Animatus_) and left, sweeping off somewhere to do something. Halo and the others exchanged glances and made their way up the moving staircase, knocking nervously on the door. There was no real reason for their unease, except the general anxiety associated with being called to the headmistress's office.

"Come in," called Headmistress Sprout cheerfully, and James opened the door, leading the others inside.

"Ah, yes," Headmistress Sprout said with a nod, putting the pot of mushrooms that she had been checking on to one side. "Come in, children. I have something for you from your parents."

"Really, from Dad?" James asked, mystified, as he walked to the desk, followed by a similarly bewildered Rose and Albus. Halo stayed where he was, feeling very awkward. He wasn't really supposed to be here, and he almost felt as if he was intruding on a private moment.

"Yes indeed," Professor Sprout said, "and due to the contents your father asked that it not be delivered with the normal morning owl post. When you open your packages, I am sure you will understand." She pulled out three packages, one addressed to each of them, and Halo's friends took them eagerly, tearing at the packages as if it were Christmas morning. Professor Sprout smiled at the exuberance of youth, but her smile turned to a puzzled frown as she saw Halo for the first time. She was probably wondering what in Merlin's name he was doing here, so he figured he'd better explain.

"I was with Rose and the others when Professor Mason came to find them. I had something to ask you about, so he said that I could come along. That's alright… isn't it?"

"That is quite all right with me," Professor Spout said, still sounding a bit confused about why he was here. "It is really up to the Potters and Ms. Weasley whether or not they want you here. After all, Harry wanted to give them as much privacy as possible."

"Oh, it's fine, it's just Halo," Rose said over her shoulder as she tried her best to open her package. Albus nodded vaguely, as if he were only half listening, and James said nothing at all. Both boys had managed to open their packages, and were far too focused to care about much else. Of course, their packages hadn't been wrapped by Ron Weasley. Rose sighed and pulled out her wand, muttering something that sounded like _diffindo_. There was a quick flicker of green light and the package split open. Rose nodded in satisfaction and sat down as she began examining the contents, paying no further mind to Halo, or anything else for that matter.

"Very well, Mr. Wiggins," the headmistress said. "We will discuss whatever you came to see me about when the others are done. You may wait while they examine their gifts, but I will wait outside."

"Y-you're leaving?" Halo asked, surprised. Professor Sprout sure did leave a lot, considering that it was her office.

"Yes, I think so," she said. "I have a feeling that this moment ought to be shared by family… and friends of course." She winked and added, "And I wouldn't be surprised if there are one or two things in those packages that it would be best if I didn't know about. I'll return when you are finished." With another cheery wave she was gone, closing the door behind her with a snap.

None of the others spoke, absorbed with whatever they had gotten. Halo soon got tired of just standing there like an awkward… well, like something awkward, and went over to see what Rose's father had sent her.

Rose was sitting on the ground, holding a silver object in one hand and a short letter in the other. Halo couldn't quite see what she was holding at first, but as he crouched beside her he saw that it was a silver cigarette lighter, or something that looked just like one. Rose was staring at it, looking incredibly shocked about something.

"You okay, Rosie?" Halo asked, a little concerned by her reaction.

"I-I can't believe it," she managed weakly. "Dad… he actually gave it to me."

"Er, what is it?" Halo asked, figuring that at this point it probably wasn't just a lighter. He looked at it closely, but still couldn't see anything special.

"It's Daddy's Deluminator, given to him by Albus Dumbledore himself. It can suck up all the lights in a room if I click it, and it can do a bunch of other things. I… I actually don't really know everything it does," Rose looked up suddenly, and Halo followed her eyes and saw that she was looking at the same portrait of an old man with a long silver beard and half-moon spectacles that Harry Potter had kept looking at weeks before. The portrait was sleeping soundly, but Halo could have sworn that out of the corner of his eye he'd seen it wink at Rose. Halo walked over and examined it closely, but the occupant remained fast asleep. The caption below read,

Headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

August 19th 1881- June 30th 1997

Died Defending the Wizarding World from Lord Voldemort

Halo nodded to himself, feeling rather stupid. He really should have figure out who it was, but he had never been good at remembering which famous witch or wizard was which. The portrait was still fast asleep, or at least pretending to be really, really convincingly, so Halo turned back to Rose, who was still staring at her new… whatever it was. Rose wordlessly handed him the note that her father had sent her, indicating that he should read it. Apparently she had been struck speechless, which Halo would have thought impossible until he saw it himself.

_My Dearest Rose,_

_It seems like only yesterday that you were a little baby sleeping in my arms, so small and fragile that I was almost afraid to hold you. It has been more amazing than I could possibly describe to watch you grow, and I couldn't be prouder of the young witch you have become. All I can say, really, is thank goodness you inherited your mother's brains._

_Rose, you're still young, with so much of your life ahead of you, and it's so easy for a father to think you're too young; that you're still the little speck of a girl that I held in my arms eleven years ago. But you're not, you are a witch studying at Hogwarts, and a Gryffindor just like your parents. I know that the next seven years in Gryffindor will be as wonderful an experience for you as they were for me. Hogwarts is truly an amazing place, but while it is a school, it is not always entirely safe. That is why I am sending you my most prized possession, the Deluminator that Dumbledore entrusted to me 19 years ago. It is a truly amazing device, one that I'm sure has a few secrets I never managed to discover. May it be for you, as it was for me, a tool to guide you down the right path, and a light when you are stuck in darkness. Never forget that you are a Weasley, and that your family is proud of you and loves you very much._

_Love, Daddy_

_P.S. DO NOT tell your mother that I sent you the Deluminator, she will go mad with worry and badger me about how you are far too young._

"He's always so embarrassing," Rose mumbled red-faced as she grabbed the letter back, looking as though she regretted showing it to him. Halo didn't think that it was embarrassing at all, though, he actually thought that it was incredibly sweet. Of course, if _his_ father had written something like that to him, it would have naturally been unbelievably embarrassing. It was just different somehow when it was somebody else; he could appreciate it a lot more. And who would have guessed that Ron could write something so nice? Halo wouldn't really have pegged him as a heartfelt writer, but apparently there was a lot more to Ron Weasley then there seemed to be at first glance.

"If you got the Deluminator from your dad, then that means…" Halo drifted, looking over at James, whose back was turned to them. Halo and Rose exchanged excited looks, and together they scrambled over to see what Harry Potter had sent to his oldest son.

James looked up as they hurried over, his face dominated by a wide smile. He shook his head as if he still couldn't believe it and moved his body so that they could see what he had in his hands. He was in such a good mood, apparently, that he forgot to be rude to Halo.

James didn't say anything, he really didn't need to. He was holding a broomstick that even Halo, who wasn't really an expert in such things, could tell was no ordinary broom. Halo could barely be considered a Quidditch fan compared to Cassy, but even he could recognize the ebony handle of a Firebolt when he saw one.

"Uncle Harry's Firebolt!" Rose exclaimed, reaching forward to touch it reverently. Halo very much wanted to do the same, but he figured that James probably wouldn't allow it.

"It took Dad nearly two years to find it again after he lost it fighting Voldemort," James said proudly. "And it's not just Dad's. Mum used to fly it when she played for England, although she rode her Starcatcher when she flew for the Harpies."

Rose and Halo just nodded, as if that were the most amazing piece of information that either of them had ever heard. They were both still stunned that they were looking at a Firebolt… like a real live actual Firebolt.

"It's a world-class racing broom," James added, as if there were some way the other two didn't know. "There's only a few brooms in the entire world that can outfly it—the Thunderbolt VIII, the Starcatcher, the Quasar MX, the upgraded Firebolt Supreme, a few custom foreign brooms. It's still good enough to fly circles around any broom at Hogwarts." James turned to grin at Halo and added, "With this, I'll make sure Slytherin gets smashed again this year, just you wait."

Halo hadn't really cared about House Quidditch at all up to that point, but he suddenly found himself rooting very hard for Slytherin. In fact, he found that he was rooting for Gryffindor to lose every game they played, hopefully in spectacular fashion. James wouldn't be so smug if they finished bottom of the table.

"I'm sure Vic will let me be seeker, with a broom like this," James said, lost in his own fantasies of Quidditch glory. "She can still be a chaser, of course, we'll just switch positions. You don't think Cuz will mind, do you Rosie?"

Rose made a noncommittal noise and quickly changed that subject so that she didn't have to say _Yeah, there's no chance of that happening_. Instead she asked, "What's that?" she asked, pointing to an old, folded bit of parchment in his left hand.

"Just a letter from dad… and some extra parchment," James said, speaking too quickly for either of them to believe him. James hid the parchment and said, "It's nothing… and hey, I wonder what Al got, let's go see." He strode off to the corner of the room where Albus was sitting. Halo and Rose were not fooled, but there was no way to argue with James, although Halo did find it incredibly annoying that James was keeping secrets from him, considering that Halo gone so far out of his way to be honest with James. He tried not to let his frustration show as he and the others joined Albus, who looked up as they approached. He had the same deer-in-headlights look that Rose'd had when she had gotten her Deluminator. He was holding something that Halo had seen once before, the thing that Halo quite honestly wanted to have more than anything else in the entire world. Albus just sat looking up at them, holding his father's invisibly cloak in his hand.

"Bloody Hell," James swore, his eyes widening as he saw what his brother was holding, "Dad's cloak." He looked troubled for a second, but then broke into a smile and clapped his brother on the back, "Blimey, that's great. Congrats, Al."

"An invisibly cloak?" Rose asked in awe. "Those are incredibly rare. I never knew that Uncle Harry owned one, and I can't believe he gave it to you!"

"It was our Grandpa Potter's, but I think it's been in the family longer than that. Dad doesn't really talk about, you know how he can be about the past, but he hinted that it isn't just any invisibility cloak, either. He told me once that it will never failed him, not even once." James paused, keeping his hand on his brother's shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze before adding, "It's kind of like our family heirloom."

James kept his voice light, but Halo could tell that it bothered James a little bit, and that the boy was trying hard not to show it. It made sense, since after all James was the oldest, and despite the amazing gift that his father had given him, he had to be a little disappointed that the most valuable gift of all had gone to his brother. It would be enough to make anybody jealous. Rose looked completely shocked as well, and tried to read the letter that Harry Potter had sent his younger son. Albus hid the letter quickly, though, much Rose's frustration.

"Go on, give it a try, Al," James encouraged. He looked as though he had managed to repress his jealousy completely, and just sounded excited for his brother. Halo shook his head in amazement… James really was an amazing big brother. If only he wasn't such a jerk to everyone else.

Albus looked nervously at Halo, who nodded his encouragement. After a second's hesitation, Albus covered himself with the cloak and vanished completely from view.

"Just what Hogwarts needs," said a quiet, sarcastic voice from above them, "another vanishing Potter."

Halo and the others looked up and saw that one of the portraits was wide awake, watching them closely. The occupant was a thin man with long black hair and a large, hooked nose. Albus reappeared suddenly, looking guilty, as Halo leaned forward to read the plaque below the portrait.

Headmaster Severus Snape

January 9th, 1960- May 2nd, 1998

Died a Hero Opposing the Evil of Lord Voldemort

"Snape," James said coldly, recognizing the portrait without needed to read the plaque. Apparently James's dislike of Slytherins was not limited to the living.

"As I often had to remind your block-headed father, it's _Professor_ Snape," the portrait said in a bored voice. "I take it you are the oldest. James Sirius seems to be a most apt name for you."

Halo wasn't entirely sure it was an insult, but James clearly took it as such, clenching his fists and glaring up at Headmaster Snape's portrait. The portrait was no longer interested in him, though, and turned its attention to Albus.

"And you must be Albus Severus," Headmaster Snape said softly, gazing at the boy with penetrating dark eyes. "A curious name, and one full of responsibility. Albus Dumbledore was the greatest man who ever lived, so you have quite a lot to live up to, young Potter."

"Plus he has your name to live up to as well, Headmaster," Rose said boldly, demonstrating once again her tendency to say whatever was on her mind. The portrait turned to look at her, and immediately she got very flustered. "Indeed he does," Headmaster Snape said, his mouth arranging itself in an ironic half-smile, "but I sincerely hope that the boy's life ends up nothing like my own. And you must be Rose Weasley. I hope for your sake that you inherited your mother's brains and your father's ability to resist being an insufferable know-it-all."

Rose blinked, not sure what to say, or even if she meant to reply to that veiled insult at all. The portrait turned its attention to Halo, studying him impassively. "I don't know your name, young Gryffindor. Normally I would peg you for one of the many sycophants who no doubt spend their time following the famous Potters around, hanging on their every word, yet you seem… different somehow."

"My name is Harry Wiggins, Headmaster," Halo said uneasily. For some reason he couldn't quite explain, Professor Snape made him feel very nervous. "And I'm not a Gryffindor, I'm a… the Sorting Hat sorted me into Slytherin."

"Did it now?" Headmaster Snape said softly, eyes boring into Halo as if they were trying to dig their way into his mind. "How very curious." The portrait continued to gaze at Halo for what seemed like forever before Headmaster Snape said, "The headmistress has been told that you are finished, and will be returning momentarily. This conversation has been… most interesting." Before any of them could respond, the door opened and Headmistress Sprout returned, smiling at them kindly. Halo glanced back at the portrait, but Headmaster Snape seemed to be fast asleep, head resting on the side of his picture. Halo highly doubted that anyone could fall asleep that fast, and as he glanced around the office he wondered how many of the portraits were actually asleep. If he had to guess, he would bet not very many of them.

"Well, if no one has anything else for me, you're free to enjoy your Saturday, children," Headmistress Sprout said cheerfully, paying no attention to the gifts that the Potter brothers and Rose quickly hid from view. "Oh, Harry, I almost forgot. What is it you wanted to see me about again?"

"Er," Halo said, having no idea what to say. He was still confused about his conversation with the portrait, and had completely forgotten what had even brought him here. What was the name of the club they were pretending to form again?

"We wanted permission to set up a new club," Rose said, skilfully coming to Halo's rescue when she saw that he had completely lost his ability to speak.

"A new club?" Professor Sprout asked, sounding a bit surprised. "It's certainly allowed, although it is rather uncommon for first-year students to make a request like this. They are usually still trying to adjust to Hogwarts."

"Yeah, well, we were thinking of using it as way to interact socially," Albus said, catching Halo by surprise. Albus usually let others do the talking, he was one of the quietest people Halo had ever met. "We have members of all four houses interested in joining."

"Well that certainly is unusual," the headmistress said, sitting behind her desk. "I'm still hesitant to approve a social club for first years."

"It's not just first years, there are several older students interested in joining as well," James said. "And it isn't a social group, it's more of a study group… a research team even. We're thinking of calling ourselves…" James paused, looking at Rose, who quickly stepped forward and did what she did best, talk.

"We call ourselves the Hogwarts Obscure Magic Appreciation Club, focused on learning all about types of magic that aren't widely taught any more. Nothing dark or illegal, of course, mostly just old kinds of folk magic that were abandoned when more efficient forms of spellcasting were developed."

"Interesting," Professor Sprout said slowly, glancing at Halo. "And this was all your idea, Harry?"

"Uh, yeah, it was," Halo said, painfully conscious of that fact that he'd said absolutely nothing and let the others do all the talking.

Professor Sprout spent a long time considering their request. At length she stood and walked over the portrait of Headmaster Dumbledore, pausing beneath it. She looked up at it and asked, "What would you have done, Albus?"

The old Headmaster opened his eyes instantly as if he had been waiting for just such a question. Professor Dumbledore considered his words for a moment before saying, "A child's curiosity is one of the most of the most beautiful things in this world, regardless of what form it takes. Don't you think so, Pomona?" As the portrait spoke, Professor Dumbledore's portrait briefly glanced at Halo, and this time there was no mistaking it, the Headmaster definitely winked at him. Halo wasn't sure how, but he got the sense that Albus Dumbledore knew exactly what they were up to. Then again, Halo had never met the real live Albus Dumbledore, or he would have been a good deal less surprised.

"You're right, of course," Headmistress Sprout said, speaking as though she had already made up her mind before she asked her question, but was just looking for support. She turned to the children and said, "You have my permission to form your club. Let me know if you have any questions, and make sure you ask permission before you actually attempt to perform any obscure magic."

"We will," promised Halo, determined to not let everyone else do his talking for him anymore. "And thank you, headmistress."

"You're free to go, enjoy your weekend," Headmistress Sprout said, dismissing them. Halo smiled at the others and together they left, heading in the direction of the Gryffindor Common room. It was only a fake club, but Halo was relieved that they had gotten permission to form it anyways. It would make it much easier for them to all meet and share what they learned. The Hogwarts Obscure Magic Appreciation Club was a bit of a mouthful, though, so Rose suggested they just call it THOMAC instead. The others agreed, feeling slightly relieved.

"You know, I've only been to this part of the castle once," Halo said as they stopped in front of the portrait of fat lady in an elaborate dress. This must be the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room, which meant that it was time for him to say goodbye. "I came this way, looking for Professor Evergreen's Office. I tried to ask directions from this crazy portrait, but…"

The memory triggered an explosion in his brain—rush of memories that had been kicking around in his mind, completely forgotten. He saw again the face of the crazy old man who was convinced that Halo was coming to turn him in for doing illicit research, and remembered the plaque below the portrait with a name that had meant absolutely nothing at the time.

"I… I just remembered something!" Halo shouted, turning to find the portrait. "You guys go on, I'll meet you later." He ran off, but did not leave them behind for long. Rose in particular did not find Halo's explanation to be at all acceptable, and raced after him, her temper very close to boiling over. Before any of them could ask any questions, though, Halo skidded to a halt in front of an old portrait that the Gryffindors had passed dozens of times without giving it a second thought. Albus peered at the name for the first time, and in a startled voice read the name aloud. "G-Grayson Vance?"

"Professor Vance," Halo said in a clear, strong voice as the others stared at the portrait in disbelief. "I have some questions about your research."


	31. Chapter 28

Chapter 28 Blue Hair and Green Eyes

The portrait of Grayson Vance glared at Halo suspiciously, immediately hiding whatever it had been writing behind his back. "Who are you, what do you want? Did Dippet send you? He did, didn't he! He's always meddling in my affairs, saying I should never have been allowed to teach after being released from Azkaban. Well you can tell that uppity Charms professor to-" Halo blinked as Professor Vance unleashed a string of profanities unlike any that Halo had ever heard. Albus and James just gaped at the portrait in disbelief, but Rose looked rather thoughtful.

"We weren't sent by Professor Dippet," Rose said sweetly, sounding very un-Rose-like. "We came on our own. We heard about your research, and find it fascinating. Could you tell us more about it?"

Professor Vance glanced at her critically, looking equal parts flattered and suspicious. "You want to learn about my research? But you are just children."

Halo felt a rush of excitement. Professor Vance clearly knew something about blood magic, something that could help them protect Hogwarts. He could tell that they were going to get the clue that they so desperately needed. Things were finally going right. "Please, it's very important," Halo said imploringly, "tell us everything you know."

The portrait looked back and forth between the children, seeming very confused. He looked down at the papers in his hands, frowning in puzzlement. "I-I'm afraid I can't. I don't really understand what this says."

"What?" James demanded, sounding angry. Halo was pretty annoyed himself, but mostly he was just sad. The old professor looked so lost that Halo felt sorry for him. It was unbelievably frustrating to hit a wall now, just when they were about to get answers. What was even worse, though, was that it just didn't make any sense.

"But you have to know something, Professor, it's your research," Rose said, refusing to give up hope.

"It's no use," someone said behind them. Halo turned and saw Atalanta a few feet away, leaning on the wall. What she was doing there he wasn't quite sure, but it wasn't terribly surprising. Atalanta more or less always did the unexpected. "A portrait won't be able to answer your questions."

"Why not?" Albus asked while his brother glared at Atalanta angrily, hiding his Firebolt behind his back so she wouldn't see it. Halo rather doubted it mattered at all, since Atalanta had most likely already seen it.

"Portraits are no more than faint imprints of the souls of whoever they depict," Atalanta explained impatiently. "They have few true memories of their lives, certainly not enough to actually tell you about something as complex as what you're asking."

"What are you even doing here, Selwyn," James asked angrily, upset that they weren't going to get any answers.

"That same thing as you, probably," Atalanta said, "I'm here for the portrait. The Lestrange girl and I did a quick search in the library for Grayson Vance and found a few interesting things. He was from a very old pureblood family, and had a habit of conducting unauthorized experiments. Nothing too sinister, but enough to have him sent to Azkaban for a few months. He was apparently a brilliant wizard, though, and was invited to Hogwarts to teach the NEWT students. After he died in some sort of tragic accident, they hung a portrait of him in the seventh floor hallway leading to the Gryffindor common room. That was all we could find out in such a short time, but it's quite enough to go on." Atalanta stepping forward to inspect the portrait closely, turning away from the others. Halo kept silent as Atalanta tried to find whatever she was looking for. He wanted to ask a few questions, but didn't have the nerve to interrupt her. If only Cleo were here; he wouldn't be nervous to ask her.

"Do you know that you wrote book entitled, Blood Magik, the Misunderstood Art of Wizardry?" Atalanta asked the portrait slowly, acting as though the portrait were rather stupid.

"Of course I know," Professor Vance sputtered, glaring at Atalanta in indignation. "The manuscript is right here!" He waved the paper at her, those same papers that he hadn't been able to read a moment before. Halo found portraits to be incredibly confusing. How could they both know something and not know it at the same time?

"The original manuscript," Atalanta said excitedly, seeming pleased. "Do you know where you put the real copy?"

"I-" the portrait seemed completely lost, as if he didn't understand what she was asking. Atalanta frowned in irritation, as if disappointed in her own question. She thought for a moment before asking, "Where are you sitting, Professor?"

Vance looked around his portrait vaguely. "Where? I am in my office at home."

"Home office… and where is that, professor?" Rose asked. She seemed to understand what Atalanta was doing, even though Halo didn't.

"Hogsmede of course, just off of Cauldron Street. You really ought to know that, young lady, since you're visiting me here."

Atalanta and Rose exchanged looks, both looking immensely pleased at their own cleverness. Halo and Albus exchanged slightly different looks, both looking immensely confused. "So, what just happened?" Halo asked, hoping that no one made fun of him for being stupid. Atalanta turned to him, looking mildly disappointed at his confusion, as though she had expected more. She opened her mouth to same something, probably something mean, but Rose started speaking first.

"Don't you see, guys? This is great!" She was so excited that she was hopping up and down a little. "We finally have the clue we needed."

"We do?" Albus asked, looking at Halo, who just shrugged. He had missed it too.

"Look it's not that complicated," Atalanta said with a sigh, rolling her green eyes in frustration. Halo refused to meet her eyes, feeling bad that he didn't understand right away. "As I said, portraits are very limited in what they know about their own lives, since they are only faint impressions. In that sense, portraits have very little in common with ghosts, who do retain much of their knowledge about their past lives. Except for maybe the headmaster portraits in the headmistress's office, which I heard are enchanted with much stronger magic, portraits are practically useless for information. If you ask them a direct question, even a question about their life's work, they won't remember."

"But if you ask simple questions like what are you holding, where are you sitting or something like that, the portrait will be able to answer, because you are asking something the portrait knows," Rose continued, jumping in when Atalanta stopped to take a breath. The older girl glared at her, but otherwise did nothing to punish Rose for her interruption. Halo was relieved, for he had momentarily feared to Rose's life. Rose's inability to stop herself from talking was going to get her in trouble one of these days. "And those simple little questions told us what we needed to know. Professor Vance used to live in Hogsmede, and he worked on the original manuscript of that book there. There's a chance that-"

"It might still be there," James said, earning glares from everyone for interrupting Rose. "It's worth a shot, especially considering how paranoid this Vance bloke seemed to be. There's no way a wizard like him didn't have a secret hiding place for his illegal experiments. We should be able to find it."

Halo frowned, but he was the only one who did. The others were all too excited by the possibility of finding a dark wizard's secret laboratory to consider the fact that someone probably would have found it by now, if it really did exist. Professor Vance had died more than a hundred years ago, so it didn't seem likely that no one would have noticed a secret hiding place in all that time. Then again, Halo thought to himself, trying to stay positive, no one was really looking for one. And unfortunately, it was the best lead they had.

"I'll check out Hogsmede on the next school trip," James said. "There's one in two weeks, right before Halloween. I'll search Cauldron Street, see if I can find anything."

"I will search as well," Atalanta said. James looked like he wanted to protest, but didn't say anything. Atalanta didn't look too pleased herself, and Halo swallowed nervously. Atalanta and James searching Hogsmede together? That was sure to end in disaster.

"And we'll go too," Rose said, exchanging looks with Albus, who nodded firmly.

"You'll… what?" James asked, mouth hanging open. Atalanta looked shocked as well, looking as surprised as she had that first night when Halo had managed to block her stunning spell.

"We'll go to Hogsmede too," Rose repeated, as if it were perfectly obvious. "You in, Halo?"

"S-sure," Halo said, happy that they included him, even if their plan made no sense. How exactly were they getting to Hogsmede when first years weren't allowed to leave the castle?

"Just how are you planning on accompanying us?" Atalanta said, voicing aloud what Halo was thinking. She seemed genuinely curious, acting as if Albus and Rose weren't just completely insane.

"There's no way you can-" James started to say, but Albus rummaged in his bag and pulled something out. Halo had to move slightly so that he could see what Albus had in his hands. It was his father's invisibility cloak, which he'd gotten less than an hour ago. Halo swallowed nervously. He had dreamed of how awesome it would be to use that cloak since he had first seen in the Pensieve, but breaking even more school rules right after receiving a stern lecture from Headmistress Sprout did not seem like a very smart idea. Halo looked back and forth between Rose and Albus, both of whom looked very determined. Well, he wasn't going to let them sneak out and leave him behind, since finding the clues they were looking for was supposed to be his responsibility. If the others were really going to go, Halo would of course go with them.

"H-hold on a minute," James said, trying to find a way to forbid his younger relations from breaking the rules that he seemed to care little about himself. Rose and Albus were in no mood to listen, but Halo could see that James would not give up so easily. It was obvious that a huge row was about to break out, and Halo watched his friends nervously. He hated it when people fought, especially family.

"Come on, Halo, we're going," Atalanta said, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and pulling him away. Halo yelped pitifully, wondering, not for the first time, why Atalanta didn't just ask him to do things before dragging him off somewhere. Her green eyes had lingered on the invisibility cloak for quite a long time, but she hadn't say anything, and she dragged Halo away from the others just as James and Rose started yelling at each other, using words like _school rules, telling Mum_ and _hypocrisy_.

Halo didn't see Rose or Albus until the following Monday, but the first thing Rose said in Potions when she sat down next to him at the table they shared with Albus and Cleo was, "We're going." She said it with that absolute determination that only Rose had, and Halo knew better than to argue with her. He said nothing, but spent much of the next week worrying about the prospect of being caught outside Hogwarts and expelled. He tried to tell himself that the Hogsmede trip was still two weeks away, and that maybe their secret group would get another clue by then. But as the days wore on without any success, that seemed less and less likely, and Halo's panic grew and grew.

It was the fastest two weeks of Halo's time at Hogwarts. Naturally, just as soon as he wanted time to slow down, the days flew by as if someone had cast a Velosia charm on them. That was probably because his classes were actually… fun. Part of the reason was that Halo had finally, FINALLY, able to do something in Charms, which had been bothering him more than he cared to admit. They were practicing the floating levitation charm, a specialized kind of levitation charm that can be used to send object high in the air. He was practicing with Sam and Cleo, and the third time that he said the incantation, _Wingardum Leviosa_, the flower that he was practicing on actually shot into the air! Shot was actually a very good word to describe what happened, because the flower was probably going more than a hundred miles an hour, and broke apart in an explosion of petals when it hit the ceiling. The whole class laughed, but it wasn't mean spirited laughter, so Halo had no trouble joining in. Cleo waved her wand quickly and whispered "Wingardium Leviosa," catching all of the individual petals as they dropped down, levitating them in a clever way so that they floated around Halo's head like a crown or, well, like a halo. Everyone laughed even harder, even Professor Dimock, who awarded five points to Slytherin for creativity. Cleo quickly became very self-conscious with everyone looking at her and smiling (even the Hufflepuffs!) and immediately stopped her spell and dropped her eyes, letting her hair fall in front of her face. Halo couldn't stop smiling, even when Professor Dimock lectured him on his lack of control, and told him that he needed quite a lot of practice before she let him levitate live gerbils, which most of the class would be practicing with around Halloween. Halo just let her words _Wingardium Leviosa _in one ear and out the other, because he had actually been able to use a charm! Sure it wasn't perfect, because he had given it way too much power, but at least his flower hadn't just sat there like it had all the times before. Plus, there was Cleo, who was acting a tiny bit more like a normal eleven-year-old girl with each passing week.

It wasn't just Charms, all of his classes (except, obviously, History of Magic) were enjoyable. Herbology had gotten so much better for Halo and Cleo with Headmistress Sprout teaching, even though they weren't doing anything except repotting exotic-coloured flowers. Orange and green striped roses were, in Halo's opinion, infinitely better than separating dead flubberworms from the live ones. Plus, Cleo seemed to think the flowers were pretty.

Defence Against the Dark Arts, which everyone was still calling DATDA class, was finally exciting again, because Professor Clearwater let them practice disarming each other for the first time since Halo had made everyone's wand fly around the room the month before. Halo was really, really careful to disarm only Rose, and not everyone else by accident. For whatever reason, he didn't have as much trouble with Expelliarmus as he did with other charms, probably because it was more of a hybrid spell, just like Professor Clearwater had said back in the first week of class. The best part, of course, was that Halo was better and faster than Rose, who soon got so tired of being disarmed first that she made Cleo switch partners with her so that she could work with Albus. Albus was all too happy, because even though he and Rose tried their best to be better friends with Cleo, Halo could tell that she made both of them a little nervous. He couldn't manage to feel upset about it, though, because he was just really liked to beat Rose. Her furious glares, for whatever reason, made him happy. Was that bad?

Transfiguration was still his best subject, and he couldn't help showing off from time to time. He tried not to do it too often, though, because the first-year Ravenclaws were starting to become very jealous of him. He liked some of them; the Vieri twins, Cecilia Atkins, and Aeneas Tempest were pretty nice to him, but the others were pretty rude. He tried to not feel bad, but he couldn't help it sometimes. Sam, J.B. and the others said that the Ravenclaws were just being petty and jealous, but it didn't make him feel better. He hated it when people were mad at him, even if it was their fault. So he tried to show off less as October wore on, but sometimes it just happened by accident, and he just couldn't help it. Like that time when he was supposed to be changing the colour of the chess piece that Professor Mason had given from black to blue, and instead turned Sam's hair blue. She had been practicing opposite him, and blinked in surprised as the class started laughing. Halo stammered apologies as Professor Mason walked over, trying unsuccessfully to conceal his own smile.

"Human transfiguration is usually only taught to N.E.W.T. students, due to the mental discipline and magical energy required. Even a transfiguration like this, which is relatively simple, is simply amazing for a first-year student." The Ravenclaws glared at Halo, and the other Slytherins glared at the Ravenclaws for glaring at him. Halo just swallowed and did his best Cleo impression, dropping his head and trying to hide behind his shaggy blond hair. Not surprisingly, it didn't work any better for him than it did for her. "I think it would be best if I correct Ms. Crabbe's hair, since human transfiguration is prone to mishaps. Do try to be more careful in the future, Mr. Wiggins." Halo nodded dully, wishing that everyone would stop looking at him. This was how Cleo must feel all the time when she walked down the hallways. No wonder she hated it.

"Actually, could you leave it, um, Sir" Sam said, running her fingers through her blue hair. "I think… er, I like it better like this."

It looked for a moment like Professor Mason was going to bring up the Hogwarts regulation that forbid students from transfiguring themselves until they were of age, but instead he said, "Very well, if you that is your wish." The rest of class was pretty quiet, except that Sam kept running her fingers through her spikey blue hair. She saw Halo watching her nervously and she smiled at him. Like a real smile, full of happiness and joy. Halo had never seen Sam smile like that before… not ever.

Halo's other classes were pretty fun too. Potions was either hit or miss, he would either brew the potion perfectly or mess it up spectacularly, there seemed to be no middle ground. Magic Theory was pretty interesting, but he didn't understand it as well as some of the other Slytherins or Ravenclaws in his class, who always gave him the smuggest looks whenever he asked them for help. Apparently, they weren't ever going to forgive him for being so good at transfiguration. Astronomy was pretty fun since Halo loved staying up late. Oh, and looking at the planets and moons and stuff was pretty cool too.

The best class, though, hands down, was Flying. Flying was taught on Friday afternoons by a lively middle aged witch named Katie Bell-Thomas, who knew as much about Quidditch as anyone that Halo had ever met. She had apparently played with the Holyhead Harpies with Ginny Potter, and one look at Madame Bell-Thomas in the air was enough to convince Halo that she was better on a broom than he would ever be. Flying was Cassy's thing, and he just hadn't inherited that particular gift. He had been so happy when his sister had bounded up to the week before, crushing him in a hug and yelling that she had been made the Ravenclaw Seeker. He knew, without a doubt that he would never play for Slytherin, which was good because he didn't really want to play against her. Cassy was not a gracious loser.

Flying was basically just organized chaos, where the children just flew in circles around each other, some trying to show off and others trying not fall off. Even though Halo wasn't much of a flier, he had at least been on a broom before, so he wasn't that far behind most of the Slytherins or Gryffindors despite the fact that he had missed the first Flying class the week when Evey (that villainous traitor!) had earned him detention. The best flier, much to everyone's surprise, was Scorpius, who looked like a natural. Rose was probably the second best, and Albus wasn't far behind. Cleo, Annie, Shandra, Courtney, and a Gryffindor boy named Oscar Vane were the worst flyers, but honestly Halo wasn't much better. They all fell off a few times, and most of the class was spent laughing at each other's ridiculousness. There was definitely some hostility between the two houses, but Halo, Rose, Albus, Shandra, Annie, and even Sam did their best to keep the others from fighting, and for the most part the class was pretty civil. Halo was surprised, but it seemed that THOMAC was already doing some good. Other people did look at them strangely whenever Halo or any of the others mentioned "THOMAC", but Halo didn't really mind. He thought the name was actually kind of cool… er, even if no one else did.

The problem was, there was nothing to report. Ms. Vance had refused to let Atalanta see the book, which didn't surprise Halo very much. That had always been a long shot, since the book was supposedly banned. Courtney, Scorpius, Kevin, and J.B. had tried asking their parents about Professor Grayson's book, but none of their parents had ever heard of it, nor could they find a copy of it anywhere using their vast connections in the wizarding world. Courtney was in disbelief, as if she couldn't believe that her pureblood heritage hadn't been able to solve the problem. Halo restrained his desire to make fun of her stupid, outdated beliefs, since she had actually been trying to help, but it wasn't easy. The days wore on without anyone finding a copy of the book, and Halo's anxiety grew. Cleo commented on the morning of Friday the 27th of October that his nightmares were worse than hers were these days. He was so glum that he didn't even realize until much later that it was the first joke he had ever heard her make. When he remembered later what she had said, Halo started laughing in the middle of History of Magic, which made several of the other students look at him in alarm.

That brief moment of happiness soon faded as the day wore on. Halo was so distracted during flying that afternoon that he fell of his broom twice as often as usual, and Madame Bell-Thomas made him get off and watch the last of class so that he wouldn't hurt himself. He was joined a minute later by Cleo, who had probably been waiting for any excuse to give up flying for the day. Annie joined them before long, limping away from a painful-looking crash on a twisted ankle that she insisted didn't hurt a bit. Madame Bell-Thomas tried to make Annie go to the hospital wing, but the girl flatly refused.

"I got far worse injuries than this playing football," Annie said brightly, grimacing as she wiggled her injured foot to prove that it was fine. Madame Bell-Thomas didn't look happy, but J.B. and Danny Corlin started a dangerous, high-speed race towards the Whomping Willow, and she had to fly off to deal with the idiocy of pre-teen wizards.

"So the plan still on?" Annie asked, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, despite the fact that there was no one around to listen. Halo had told everyone in THOMAC about the plan to sneak into Hogsmede, mostly because he still believed in keeping as few secrets as possible. James was still absolutely refusing to give his consent to the plan, but that hardly mattered to anyone who wasn't James. The first-years were all in favour of it, even the Slytherins, who didn't seem to care at all that leaving the school was completely against school rules. Most of them were just upset that they weren't allowed to go too. The only other person, really, who wasn't thrilled was Cassy, who said she was worried about what would happen if Halo and the others were caught. Halo shared her unease, but wasn't about to back out on Rose and Albus. Plus, he thought it was a little funny that Cassy was telling him to be careful, when she had gotten detention last year for sneaking into the Prefect's bath with her best friend Heather Goldstein on a dare. Heather's father Anthony had been best friends with Uncle Terry at Hogwarts, and the girls had bonded just as easily. Heather had a sister, Megan, who was a first-year Gryffindor in Halo's class, and he watched her fly around for a while, wondering what made people become friends with each other. Megan was nice enough to Halo, but she never really talked to him, even though they were both friends with Annie and Shandra and their sisters were nearly inseparable. Halo shook his head to clear it, which for some reason made Annie giggle, and he almost didn't want to answer her question. In the end, he did anyways.

"Yeah," Halo said, not sounding anywhere near as excited as Annie did about it.

"Are you sure the cloak can't fit four people?" Annie asked, her green eyes full of desperate hope. Halo shook his head, and Annie sighed loudly, looking as though someone had cancelled Christmas just for her. Halo shook his head, wondering why girls were so dramatic. He looked over at Cleo, who was looking at Annie vaguely, probably wondering the same thing. That was why Halo liked Cleo the best, she was the most un-girly girl he had ever met. Well, except for Sam… but Sam was much scarier than Cleo was. Halo turned to watch Sam fly around for a while, her blue hair whipping around her as she flew.

"Well, have a good time," Annie said, pouting with her arms folded across her chest. "Tomorrow will be here before you know it." Halo scowled, trying his best not to be annoyed with Annie. After all, she wasn't trying to be annoying.

Unfortunately, she was right. Tomorrow did come before Halo knew it.

"Be quiet!" Rose hissed in Halo's ear, even though she was talking to Albus.

"I'm trying to," Albus whispered back, limping slightly. He'd stubbed his toe on a magical step that had a nasty of reaching up and grabbing unsuspecting students as they walked down from the second floor, even, it seemed, invisible ones. Albus would have fallen all the way down to the entrance hall, probably taking the cloak with him, if Rose and Halo had caught him just in time. He had cried out in fear, causing a few of the older students who were gathering to go to Hogsmede to look around in confusion. They had tried to go to straight entrance hall and put the cloak on later, but the Caretaker, Gaius Spector, had scolded them for hanging around where they weren't supposed to be and told them to go back to their common rooms. The thin caretaker wasn't really so bad, just a little stricter than Halo thought he needed to be. Cassy didn't like him at all, convinced that he had it out for her. Apparently, she took issue with the fact that he considered her a troublemaker. Halo had felt the need to point out that was probably because she _was_ a troublemaker, but his sister hadn't listened. Instead, she had smacked him and walked away, which Halo didn't think was an appropriate way to win an argument. Cassy and Atalanta really were more similar than either of them cared to admit.

Thankfully, aside from the treacherous step, they had no issues sneaking out of the castle. Halo almost couldn't believe how easy it was to just leave Hogwarts, especially with an invisibility cloak. It was cloudy and rather chilly day, which was a good thing. Albus, Rose and Halo were rather cramped under the cloak, and if it had been hot outside they would have been very uncomfortable. As it was, it was still cramped and difficult to move without tripping on each other. They stayed well behind the other students, so that no one would hear their footsteps of overhear them if they had whisper to each other.

The walk to Hogsemede seemed to take forever, but it probably wouldn't have been all that long if they weren't shuffling around under an invisibility cloak. Halo had been to Hogsemede a bunch of times with Cassy and his parents, so he didn't have to stop and stare at the amazing sight of Honeydukes, the Three Broomsticks, or the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes expansion store. Rose looked incredibly nervous as they walked by that last building. Invisible or no, she was bound to be nervous that her father might somehow see her. Ron Weasley was nowhere in sight though, and they managed to walk through Hogsmede without difficulty.

"So where to?" Halo asked, as they stopped beside the Hogsmede Arena, where Cassy had spent so much of her summer flying on her new broom.

"I don't know," muttered Rose irritably, sounding sick of being stuck under the cloak. "I have no idea where Cauldron Street is. I thought you had heard of it."

"No… but hey, let's just look around for a bit. I'm sure it's around here somewhere," Halo said trying to sound positive. Rose just scowled, still annoyed, which was a little unfair since this whole thing had been her idea. Albus nodded and said, "We can go find Cassy, Atalanta and my brother. They're looking for the street too." Halo nodded, and the three of them set off to go find the others.

They had taken one step, maybe two, when it happened. Someone ran straight into Halo, trodding painfully on his foot. That someone gave a startled yelp as Halo and the others tripped over the cloak and the four of them collapsed in a confusing heap. Halo couldn't see anything for a moment, but eventually the confusion sorted itself out and Halo caught sight of a familiar brown bangs and big, traitorous green eyes.

"Evey!?" Halo asked, standing up and dusting himself off.

"Halo!" Evey Evergreen said, jumping up excitedly, and hugging him rather hard. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"Er, what are you doing here?" Halo asked, rather confused.

"The real question is what are you doing here?" Evey asked, smiling her wide, evil smile.

Halo groaned and he looked at Albus and Rose, both of whom looked very confused. They probably saw only a sweet and adorable little girl, but Halo knew better. Evey might look sweet and innocent, but she had a treacherous little heart. And that smile… that smile meant trouble.

The plan had always been a risky one, but now that Evey was here Halo knew they were bound to get caught. They were totally doomed.


	32. Chapter 29

Chapter 29 Cauldron Street

"Evey, you have to leave, please, and don't tell anyone that you saw us," Halo said desperately, but Evey just smirked at him, looking amused that he would be so silly. She plainly had no intention of going anywhere when something exciting was going on. Halo groaned and tried to find the right words to get rid of her. None came to mind.

"Wait, I don't understand, who is this girl?" Rose asked Halo, confused. Evey glared at Rose, not pleased that Rose had asked the question as if Evey weren't there. She started to say something, but Halo spoke first.

"Her name is Evey Evergreen," Halo said, "Professor Evergreen's daughter. She lives with him at Hogwarts."

Albus and Rose exchanged nervous look, finally understanding what the problem was. If the professor heard about this, they would all be chucked out of Hogwarts faster than you can say Quidditch.

"Oh, don't worry, I obviously won't tell Father you were in Hogsmede," Evey said, looking hurt that they were doubting her. Halo felt only slightly reassured. Evey might not tell on them intentionally, but he didn't trust her judgement enough to be sure that she wouldn't let something slip accidentally. She was only nine years old, and Halo didn't have a very high opinion of her decision making skills.

"What are you doing here, Evey?" Halo asked again, trying to not sound too grumpy. He still couldn't get over how unlucky it was to have bumped in to her. They had only met twice, but Evey already got him in more trouble than anyone he had ever met.

"Father had to meet someone in town, and said that I could come with him to explore a little as long as I promised to be good." Eve recited that last part in a sing-song voice. "I've been in trouble for ever and ever, and I'm so glad that Father finally gave me a break." She took a deep breath before saying, "So, what are we doing? Is this about saving the world?"

Evey apparently missed the irony that as soon as she got out of trouble, she was more than happy to look for even worse trouble. Rose, who still didn't really understand exactly what was going on said, "Wait, how… how do you know about what's going to happen?"

"From Lily of course," Evey said, looking at Rose as though she were being silly. "I'm a founding member of Team Nargle."

"Team what?" Albus asked completely mystified. "And did you just say Lily? What does my sister have to do with any of this?"

Halo groaned. He should have expected this would happen as soon as they started talking to Evey. Halo still hadn't mentioned Lily's role in this to anyone, but only because James demanded that it be kept a secret, even from Albus and Rose. Now they were going to learn the whole truth. He just hoped they weren't too mad at him for keeping in the dark.

Evey explained everything she knew in her usual, haphazard way that really only made sense to her, and Rose and Albus both turned to look at Halo, neither looking pleased.

"James didn't want anyone to know," Halo said apologetically. "He was afraid that people would think Lily was mad."

"So you kept it from US?" Rose asked in a low, dangerous voice, looking furious. Rose absolutely hated not knowing things, so he'd figured this would probably set her off. Albus didn't look terribly upset, but he was clearly struggling to make sense of what Evey said his sister could do. He was probably wondering how she could do all those things without him having any clue about her powers.

"I'm sorry," muttered Halo, but it clearly wasn't enough. Rose snorted and folded her arms, turning to face away from him. Albus looked back and forth between the two of them uneasily, unsure of what to say to his cousin. Evey paid no interest in what the older kids were doing, for she was far more interested in the invisibility cloak that lay on the ground beside Albus's feet. If Halo weren't so focused on Rose, he would have been much more alarmed by Evey's interest. As it was, he didn't even notice when she reached down and picked it up.

"I thought we were past all this," Rose said, looking at Halo over her shoulder. "I thought you had learned to trust us… trust me. But instead, you're back to keeping stuff to yourself, just like at the beginning of school. It's not fair!" Rose turned away suddenly, and Halo thought he might have seen a tear or two in her eye. Halo had absolutely no idea what to say. Rose had never mentioned that week in September when Halo had completely cut himself off from everyone, convinced that Rose and others hated him for being a Slytherin. He'd been an idiot back then, but he thought that everyone had forgotten about it. Apparently, though, Rose hadn't forgotten or forgiven him completely, and his stupidity had affected her more than he'd known.

"Rose, I never should have kept you guys in the dark," Halo said, awkwardly putting his hand on her shoulder. "I was just trying to do what James wanted, which was clearly a mistake. You know I trust you, both of you. It won't happen again." As soon as Halo stopped speaking, Rose turned to face him slowly, and without warning she jumped at him, hugging him so tightly that it hurt. "I, hey, ouch-" Halo stammered, but that was about all he could say. Breathing was hard.

"Promise me, no more secrets," Rose whispered quietly in his ear, hugging him even tighter.

"S-sure," Halo managed to wheeze with the limited air he had left. "We're in this together, Rose."

Rose released him, satisfied, and wiped her eyes quickly. Albus gave Halo an embarrassed look, as if he couldn't believe how silly his cousin was being. Halo didn't really understand what had gotten Rose so worked up, either, but it just must be one of those girl things. Maybe Cassy would be able to explain it to him later. Speaking of which, they were supposed to meet up with Cassy and the others. Where were they?

"H-Halo?" Rose said, slowly as she looked around. "Where did Evey go? And, um, where is the cloak?"

Halo looked around for a moment, saw what had happened, and used one of the swear words that he'd learned from the portrait of Grayson Vance. He wasn't sure he was using it correctly, but it didn't really matter. It was the thought that counted. Evey had taken the cloak, and she was halfway to who knows where while they were stuck in the middle of Hogsmede completely visible to anyone who might walk by. If anyone were to walk by…

"There you are!" someone said, and Halo was so on edge that the nearly screamed… which would have been silly, since it was just Cassy. She came running up, her wild mane of blonde hair whipping around her, smiling like a maniac. "Sorry, I'm late, I had to ditch Heather, Charlie and Tommy. Not that Heather will mind spending some time with the boys. Seriously, that girl is… wait. Why are you all just standing around? Where is your cloak? Don't you have a cloak? I thought you had a cloak."

"We did," Halo said miserably, looking at his sister with big, pleading eyes. Cassy stared at Halo, Rose and Albus in disbelief. Halo really hoped she wouldn't ask what happened; he didn't have the heart to tell her that their extremely valuable magic artefact had been stolen by a nine-year-old devil child, but Cassy was his amazing big sister for a reason. She didn't ask any questions, instead gesturing to the broom flying arena beside them and saying, "Alright, everyone inside, quick!"

"But it's not open yet," Albus protested, pointing at the sign that clearly said the arena didn't open until after noon. Cassy ignored Albus, shepherding the younger kids inside before anyone caught sight of them. Halo was pretty sure that that the arena would be locked, but he pulled the handle and saw that it wasn't. Cassy didn't seem at all surprised by this, and she shoved Halo inside.

Halo stumbled a little as he entered, but he managed to right himself before he completely fell over. He straightened and looked around, catching his first glimpse of the entrance hall of Hogsmede Arena. The walls were covered with so many robes, flags, and pennants from dozens of different teams that Halo's brain went into colour overload. Golden Snitches zoomed above him, just below the cavernous ceiling, and menacing bludgers zoomed underneath them, thankfully paying no attention to the new arrivals. Old brooms sticks lined the walls, many inscribed with plaques that Halo couldn't read from where he was standing. It was like a crazy Quidditch museum, with so much to see that Halo could probably spend hours just looking at everything… and he didn't even like Quidditch that much! No wonder Cassy loved it here.

Albus, Rose and Cassy entered behind him, and Albus clutched Halo's arm for support, looking as though he were about to faint. He looked around in disbelief, looking as though he had died and gone to Quidditch heaven. Before any of them could explore further, someone called out to them from the far side of the room. "Oi, sorry lads, we aren't open until… oh, it's you Cassy. I hadn't figured you'd be back again, lass, what with Hogwarts starting and all."

"Hullo, Wood," Cassy said cheerfully, greeting the man who stood up and came forward to have a closer look at them. The man looked to be in his early forties, slightly stocky and so muscular that Halo had no doubt he had once been a professional Quidditch player. He had a rather wild brown beard that, together with his muscular physique, made him look rather intimidating.

"Oliver Wood, owner of this arena. I was about to go out for my morning fly, but then you folks wandered in," the man thundered in a pronounced Scottish accent, reaching out his hand for Halo to shake. Halo did so rather reluctantly, wincing at the man's vigorous handshake. Halo didn't speak immediately, feeling rather intimidated, so Cassy stepped in to cover her brother's awkwardness. "This is my brother, Harry Wiggins. And this is Rose Weasley and Albus Potter."

"Well I'll be!" Oliver Wood said laughing in delight. "I haven't seen the two of you since you were little specks in your Mamas' arms. I played Quidditch with your dad at Hogwarts, lad. Harry was the finest Seeker I've ever seen. And I played with your Uncles Fred and George too. Those lads were natural beaters. Come in, come in."

"Uh, Mr. Wood," Rose said tentatively, a bit overwhelmed by his exuberance.

"Please, just call me Wood. Everybody does," he said, smiling down at her. Wood didn't look nearly as intimidating when he smiled, and immediately the three younger children felt much more at ease.

"Are you sure it's ok for us to be here. Your sign says-"

"Oh, don't be silly, lass," Wood said, waving his hand dismissively. "My arena is never closed to you lot. What's the use of owning the place if you can't make exceptions? Take Cassy here. She would come by nearly every morning this summer, begging me to let her flying early before anyone else arrived. I refused at first, but she just kept on asking. She's got spunk, this one."

Cassy smiled at the praise, completely unabashed. Albus was delighted that they were allowed to stay, and grabbed Wood's hand, demanding a tour. Wood laughed and was happy to oblige, taking Albus around the large hall, pointing out the famous players whose robes and broomsticks lined the walls. Halo almost wanted to join them, but there were far bigger issues at hand, and he turned to face Rose and Cassy. "So what do we do now?"

"You three have to stay here, at least for now," Cassy said firmly. "If you go out, someone is bound to see you, and you'll be in huge trouble. So tell me, what happened to your cloak?"

Halo and Rose exchanged looks, neither wanting to share what had happened. Rose was the one who broke first, mostly because she liked talking more than Halo did. Cassy listen in disbelief, and when Rose was done she had to try really hard not to laugh. "You… you were robbed by a nine-year-old?"

"I honestly think she's some sort of magical creature, maybe an imp," Halo said moodily, finding nothing funny in all this.

Cassy tried to keep from laughing, she really did, but it proved to be too much. She started laughing, and once she started it was difficult to stop. Her brother's wounded glares only made her laugh harder. "Oh, Halo, I'm sorry, but that really is absurd." The Rose and Halo both glared daggers at her until she managed to stop laughing. "Look, I'm sure this Evey girl will bring the cloak back soon. She probably just wanted to try it out. She's only a little girl, what could she really do with it?"

Halo didn't share Cassy's optimism, since she had never met the little girl in question, but they really had no choice but to hope that she was right. After all, Evey was invisible, so they literally would not be able to find her.

"In the meantime," continued Cassy, who thankfully had stopped laughing. "I will go find James and Atalanta, and we'll see if there is anything worth seeing on Cauldron Street. I know you lot wanted to help, but for now…"

"We know, just sit tight," Rose muttered dully. The very idea that others were off exploring while she had to stay here and hide galled her. Halo accepted it without comment, but he was worried about what James Potter would say the next time they met. Halo wondered how many times James would say I told you so before he got bored. James had been right, this was proving to be a very bad idea. Cassy gave Halo a reassuring hug, promised him that everything would be fine, and headed out with a big wave to Wood.

Halo wasn't sure how much time passed, maybe hours or maybe whole entire days. His watch said that they only spent two hours waiting for Cassy and the others to get back, but it had to be lying. There was no way that all the moments he spent worrying and stressing and looking anxiously at door happened in a mere two hours. Rose and Halo didn't have anything else to do, so they joined the tour that Wood was giving of all the amazing things he had scattered on the wall. He had robes from all twenty teams in the Great Britain Exceptional League, as well as other jerseys from famous Quidditch clubs around the world, including the Timbuktu Firebirds, the Vratsa Vultures, and even the Transylvanian Lycans, who, according to Wood, had won a record 14 straight international club championships between 1680 and 1694. Wood added that many people claimed that was only because their opponents were attacked by vampires during many of the matches, which in Halo's opinion only made the team more amazing, not less. Amazing bits of trivia like that helped the time pass a little, but Halo still kept glancing at the door nervously, wishing that Cassy and the others would get back, hopefully with Evey in hand. His biggest fear was that someone else would come into the arena before the others returned, in which case they would all be in a whole lot of trouble. Halo was on edge the whole time, and so was Rose, most likely, so neither of them were able to truly appreciate the tour as much as Albus, who was completely lost in wonder.

The door finally opened, and Halo's heart skipped a beat until he saw Cassy's familiar mane of blonde hair. He let out a sigh of relief which died mid-breathe, because far too many people followed Cassy in. James and Atalanta were there with Cassy, but so were three of Cassy's friends—Tommy Kincaide, Heather Goldstein and Charlie Meadows. Halo had no idea what they were doing here.

"Sorry," Cassy said, flashing an apologetic smile at the younger kids. "I ran into my friends while walking over here and couldn't think of a way to get rid of them, so I just filled them in on everything that's happened," she said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Rose and Albus gaped at her, but Halo just sighed and shrugged. His sister was a lot like him, and he had basically told everyone he knew, whether he liked them or not. He had even told Courtney, for crying out loud, so he couldn't really hold it against his sister for telling her closest friends. As long as they believed him, he had no problem with it.

"So, did you find anything at Cauldron Street?" Halo asked, trying to seem like he was in control of things. He was proving to be a rubbish leader so far, but he had to keep trying. After all, all his plans couldn't end up as disastrous as this one did, could they?

"Not a thing," James snapped irritably, "Not even the street."

"What?" Rose asked.

"There is a no Cauldron Street in Hogsmede," Tommy Kincaide said in a reasonable, measured voice. "We checked the whole town twice, but it just isn't there."

"Y-you sure?" Rose asked, a little desperately. She clearly hated the idea that they might have gone through all this trouble for nothing.

"It's not that big of a town," Charlie Meadows with a lazy little half-smile, "and we did check it twice. There's definitely no Cauldron Street in Hogsmede."

They were all silent, trying to think what they should do next, when Oliver Wood cleared his throat from counter and said, somewhat apologetically, "I don't mean to be nosy, but I couldn't help overhear something about Cauldron Street."

"Yes?" Cassy said immediately, as they all turned to look at Wood.

"Well, you see, it doesn't exist anymore," Wood said. "It was one of the most run down parts of the town, with hardly anyone still living there. The mayor agreed to sell it to me, and I built this arena under right over it."

"So you're saying that Cauldron Street…" Cassy began.

"Is right underneath us!" Halo said excitedly.

"Well, under the field, to be more exact," Wood said, gesturing towards the doors that led out to the field. Halo nodded eagerly, but the others didn't seem to share his enthusiasm.

"If everything was torn down, there's no way that there's anything left," James said, since for some reason he wanted to dampen everyone's spirits. He kept glaring at Albus, probably because he had heard what'd happened to his father's cloak. Albus didn't make eye contact with his brother, which Halo figured was probably a good decision.

"There never was much chance that we'd find anything," Atalanta said, which was what Halo had been saying for nearly two weeks. "Now that we're here, we might as well take a look." She said it firmly, leaving no room for argument. Not that anyone was particularly interested in arguing with Atalanta Selwyn anyways.

"Excuse me, Wood," Cassy said sweetly, using the nicest voice she had. "Would you mind if we looked around the field? It's very important."

"Hmph," Wood said noncommittally. "Normally I would never let a bunch of kids poke around my field, but you have a good head on your shoulders, Cassy Wiggins. And you have two Potters with you, and I learned long ago that it was best to just let Potters do their thing. Go and have a look, but if you start digging up my pitch, you'll have me to answer to."

"Oh, we'll be very careful," Cassy said with a disarming smile that Halo knew better than to trust. Wood, that poor fool, just smiled back.

Cassy and Halo led the others onto the field. It was a little smaller than the Quidditch pitch at Hogwarts but the layout was almost identical. Three hoops stood on either side of the field, held up by long poles that rose high into the sky. "What exactly are we going to do?" Heather Goldstein asked as they walked across the pitch, sounding just like the ditsy girl most people thought she was. But Halo had known Heather for a long time, since the Goldsteins were close family friends, and he knew that it was mostly an act. Heather was actually very bright, or else she wouldn't be in Ravenclaw, but she always acted dumber than she was. Halo wasn't quite sure why. He'd always wanted to ask Cassy about it, but had always been too nervous that she would hit him. She was very protective of Heather.

"We are going to look for Grayson Vance's secret laboratory, because there might be draft of a book that we need to find," James explained patiently, acting far nicer to Heather he acted towards most people. Halo wondered what made Heather so special that James acted like that towards her. She was just a girl.

"I know that, Potter, I was listening," Heather said, rolling her eyes. "What I meant was how are we supposed to find it? There's clearly nothing here but a field!" She waved her arms to indicated the vast nothingness of grass that contained no entrances to secret laboratories.

"It's probably hidden by magic, if it is here at all," Cassy said thoughtfully. "We could use locator charms to try and look for it."

"I'll do it," Atalanta said imperiously, drawing her wand with her long, slender fingers. "I'm a fifth year, and I know more than a few tricks. If there's anything hidden here, I'll find it."

"Don't be silly," Cassy said through gritted teeth. "I can find anything just as easily as you can."

"I've forgotten more about locator charms than either of you ever knew," James, throwing Atalanta a venomous look and drawing his own wand. As the three of them jawed back and forth while Heather gave Halo, Rose and Albus a wry smile and said, "Why don't you three look around and see if you find any physical clues. Charlie, Tommy and I will stay with these geniuses and see if they manage to find anything."

Halo nodded and set off, not really sure what to expect. He felt a bit silly just wandering around, hoping he saw something. Rose and Albus didn't look very motivated, and Halo could tell that both of them were worried about how they were going to get back to Hogwarts. They walked to the far side of the field where the other three large Quidditch rings rose high into the air. Halo glanced around vaguely, wondering if there really was any use in-

"BOO!" Evey said, appearing suddenly out from under the invisibility cloak a few feet in front of them. Rose screamed loudly falling over it shock. Halo and Albus both screamed too, although both would later deny furiously that they did anything of the sort. Evey doubled over laughing, and when Halo had recovered a little he found it difficult to resist the urge to strangle her. He was actually shaking, that was how mad the little devil child made him.

"Evey," Halo said, trying to keep his voice as even as he could, "where the hell have you been?"

"I just borrowed the cloak to spy on Father," Evey said, as if that were a perfectly reasonable reason to steal things form other people. "I wanted to see what he was up to, because I thought he might be meeting a woman!" She shuddered in horror, as if nothing could be so terrible. "But he was just meeting some skinny blond guy with glasses, so I decided I should come and give your cloak back. I did stop at Honeydukes, though and took… Hey! Are you listening to me, Halo?"

The honest answer was no, Halo wasn't really listening to Evey at all. He was staring at the wand in his hand, which was vibrating faintly, just like it had before. At first he hadn't even noticed it, convinced that he was shaking because he was so angry at Evey. Only gradually had he noticed that the shaking was coming from his pocket and drawn out his wand.

"Yeah, that's great Evey," Halo said distractedly. "Guys come on, I think I might have something."

Halo held his wand out in front of him, walking around in whatever direction made his wand vibrate harder. Rose and Albus watched him in confusion at first until they both noticed that his wand was clearly vibrating, and Rose's mouth fell open in shock.

"How are you doing that?" she demanded.

"I'm not, it's doing it on its own," Halo said distractedly, trying to focus on the wand.

"That's not… not possible," she said in a small voice.

"Yeah, well, tell that to the wand," Halo muttered, slightly annoyed that she was distracting him. I mean, who bothered to say that something was impossible when they were looking right at it? That was just silly. Rose fell silent, finally, and Halo was able to find the place, a few yards away from the Quidditch goalposts, where his wand vibrated the hardest. He didn't notice anything out of the ordinary about this patch of grass, but he knew without a doubt that this was the place they were looking for.

"Go get the others," Halo said over his shoulder, his voice surprisingly calm. "I'm pretty sure I found it." Albus nodded and ran off to get the older students while Rose and Evey came to stand beside him. Both were still staring at his wand, which stopped vibrating suddenly, as if it knew that its message had been received.

"You really are special, aren't you?" Evey said quietly, looking much more subdued than normal. She shyly held out Albus's cloak to Rose, who snatched it up quickly, looking relieved. She probably would have given Evey a withering look, but she was too busy staring at Halo's wand in disbelief. Halo got that it was supposed to be impossible for a wand to act on its own, but there was really no reason to look that surprised, given that she had seen it with her own eyes. In the end though, Halo couldn't really do anything but sigh. Rose could be so stubborn about thinking she was right.

The others came hurrying over before Rose could work out what to say, which was frankly amazing, given how much she normally liked to talk. The older students all looked rather confused, and they kept glancing at Evey, wondering who the hell she was and what she was doing there. The only person who didn't look confused was Atalanta, who gracefully strode forward and stood beside Halo, looking as if this was exactly what she had expected would happen. She closed her eyes and waved her wand high in the air, wordlessly muttering some sort of spell. Halo had never met anyone who was as good with nonverbal spells as Atalanta. Even Mother struggled to cast certain charms without the incantation, and she was a fully qualified witch, not a fifth-year student still waiting to take her O.W.L.S. But then again, Atalanta was Atalanta.

There was a dull thud, and right in front of where they were standing a ten foot patch of turf fell away, revealing a worn stone staircase that was half-covered with puke-coloured moss. The sight of it made Halo feel nervous and excited at the same time. They had found Grayson Vance's secret laboratory.

"Er, maybe some of you should stay up here…" Halo tried to say. The dark staircase made him nervous, and he did want anyone to get hurt if there was something bad down there.

"Are you mad?" Charlie Meadows and James said at exactly the same time, staring down at the secret staircase with looks of pure excitement on their faces.

"We're all going together," Rose said firmly. "After all, that's why we formed THOMAC, isn't it?"

Halo wanted to point out that half the people here weren't even in their fake school group, but he decided it was probably best to just keep quiet. The others were clearly determined to go with him, and he was grateful. He didn't fancy the idea of down those stairs alone.

"Alright, let's go together," Halo said. "Everyone, that is, except Evey. You have to stay here."

"WHAT!?" Shouted Evey, who already had one foot on the staircase. Nobody argued with Halo's decision. None of them, plainly, thought that they should be taking a nine-year-old into a secret magic laboratory.

"I'll get Wood, he can watch her while we go down there," Cassy said, as Halo had to physically restrain Evey to prevent her from running down the stairs. Evey wailed and shouted about how unfair they were being, but no one felt much sympathy for her. "And in any case," Cassy continued, flipping her mane of blonde hair, "I think he'll want to know what's hidden under his field. You guys go on ahead, I'll sort this one out." Cassy took hold of Evey, who immediately tried to bite her.

"Won't Wood try and stop us?" Halo asked.

"Maybe, but what can he do, if you lot are already down there?" Cassy said with a roguish smile.

Halo nodded to his sister in thanks as she basically dragged Evey away, back towards the main entrance of the arena. He took a big, steadying breath, and set off down the staircase in to the darkness below, the others following close behind.


	33. Chapter 30

Chapter 30 Reducto Maxima

The light from the Quidditch field above them didn't shine very far down the staircase, which ended up being a lot longer than Halo had originally thought. Everyone except him drew their wands and murmured, "_Lumos_," filling the staircase with beams of light. Halo tried not to feel ashamed that he had never managed to cast the easiest, most basic charm that even the other first years had mastered. There was just something about the wrist flick that Halo couldn't quite get right. He was pretty sure that he was doing the same motion as everyone else, but every time he said, "_Lumos_," his wand stayed dark. Professor Dimock said that the problem was all in his head, a mental block that he would grow out of, but Halo wasn't so sure. He was half-convinced that he would never ever be able to cast charms ever, and he was going to be chucked out of school for failing his Charms exam at the end of the year. It was a stupid thing for Halo to be worrying about as he walked down the stairs towards Grayson Vance's secret laboratory, but he couldn't help it. This charm issue was seriously messing with his mind.

After about a hundred steps they reached the bottom, which led to a narrow hallway that was blocked by a door about ten feet from the end of the stairs. It was a plain-looking wooden door, but Halo felt uneasy just looking at it. If there wasn't something magical about that door, then Halo would kiss an owl.

The others sensed something too, because they gathered around the door cautiously, no one especially eager to touch it. Cassy came running up behind them, saying that Wood was not happy, but that he'd agreed to wait for them with Evey at the top of the stairs. "Also, she added, "he made me promise that we'd be careful." Halo nodded and they all went back to staring at the door. Halo wondered if opening it would automatically break the promise that Cassy had just made. Probably. At last James, who was either the bravest or stupidest (or both) of them all, reached forward and grasped the rusty metal handle. He didn't burst into flames or turn into a ferret or burst into a flaming ferret, so after a moment's hesitation James gave the door a little tug. It gave a loud clanking sound, but didn't open.

"Locked," James said, as if any of them could have possibly missed that.

"I'll get it," Cassy said quickly, pointing her wand at the door before Atalanta had the chance to outshine her again. "_Alohomora,_" Cassy said confidently, and her wand shot out a little spark of orange light. She smiled in satisfaction and pulled on the door handle, but it just clanged loudly again and stayed shut.

"Still locked," Heather observed neutrally, and Cassy shot her best friend a furious look. Halo was sure that if anyone else had said that to his sister in that moment, she would have smacked them, but Heather could get away with it.

Atalanta stepped forward and raised her wand, murmuring words that Halo couldn't hear under her breath. Her wand began to glow with orange light, but other than that nothing happened. Atalanta kept chanting under her breath, and above the door a series of runes that had been invisible before flared to life. They glowed bright yellow, and Atalanta paused her chanting, looking at the runes with no emotion on her face. Halo and the others stared at the runes too, and if they were anything like him they had absolutely no idea what they said. Atalanta twirled her wand between her long fingers, thinking. It didn't take her long to decide what to do.

"_Reducto Maxima!_" Atalanta said loudly. A jet of blue light shot out of her wand and struck the door, which burst apart, leaving nothing but splinters and dust.

"Woah!" Charlie Meadows said, looking at Atalanta with admiration and maybe something else in his eyes. "You can cast maximized charms? There's full qualified wizards that can't cast spells like that. You really are as amazing as everyone says."

Cassy looked furious, which Halo wasn't terribly surprised about, but for some reason Heather looked nearly as upset. Charlie smiled at Atalanta, who ignored him completely and turned to Halo.

"There was no way to unlock that door, it was enchanted in a way that I've never seen before. Normally you can open any door if you cast a complex enough composite charm, even if it is protected against basic charms like Alohomora. In this case, though, the only way through was to blast the door apart. We should be careful in there, because I'm not really sure what to expect."

"What did those runes say?" Rose asked, looking up above the shattered doorway. The runes' light had faded away after Atalanta shattered the door, and they were completely invisible again.

"Not a clue," Atalanta said calmly, "They were written in Midunetjer, which hardly anyone uses in this part of the world. We use druidic runes in Britain, which is a completely different language. They could have said anything."

Halo swallowed nervously, staring at the dark doorway in front of them. What if the runes had said _If you step inside you will die_ or _Beware of hungry skeletons_? His mind was running a little bit wild, imagining skeletons, dragons or some other monsters were lurking in there, waiting to grab them. If the possibility of saving the world wasn't on the line, Halo would never have even considered setting foot in there. As it was, it was still a struggle not to run back up the stairs. The Sorting Hat had definitely made the right choice not putting him in Gryffindor. He barely had any courage at all.

"Well, we won't know until we look around," James said, striding past the others into the room. Halo couldn't tell if the boy was faking his fearlessness, or if he really wasn't scared of what was the other side of the door. Halo was torn between admiration and disbelief as he and the others followed James across the shattered doorway.

Halo had expected the secret laboratory to be a small place, cluttered with sinister looking machines and cauldrons of bad smelling liquid. Instead it was a great big circular hall, the ceiling easily forty feet high, with a dozen different doors leading off who knew where. Halo had no idea how something this big could be completely hidden for over a hundred years. He got that Vance had used magic to hide it, but everyone who lived in Hogsmede could use magic too. They should have been able to find this place, shouldn't they?

"This place is huge!" Rose whispered in disbelief, sticking very close to Halo as, if standing next to him made her feel less nervous. He doubted he helped at all, since he was scared out of his mind, and part of him wanted to run over to his sister and grab her hand. He didn't, of course, since he was way too old to do that sort of thing, and James would probably make fun of him for it. So he just gripped his wand tightly, and tried to breathe as slowly as possible to calm himself down.

"We should split up, and see if we find anything," Atalanta said, sounding completely unfazed by the vast darkness around them. "Everyone divide into pairs, and yell if you find anything."

"But there are nine of us," Rose pointed out, as though that completely ruined Atalanta's plan. Atalanta didn't even bother to respond, she just walked away alone, grasped the handle of the closest door, and disappeared inside it. That seemed to take care of things.

"Alright, well, let's split up," James said, glaring at the door which Atalanta had disappeared through. "I'll go with Rose."

Rose looked surprised that James had immediately picked her, but nodded to her cousin. Albus looked a little hurt, so Halo immediately stood beside him and said, "I'll go with Al."

Cassy looked a bit concerned, but tried to hide it with a smile. Halo's earlier feelings had passed and he didn't want to run to his sister for protection. He was a big boy. "I guess it's me and Heather, and that leaves you two idiots," Cassy said, grinning at Tommy and Charlie.

"Cheers," Charlie said, winking at Cassy. He and Tommy and set off in the other direction, looking more excited than scared. Halo wished he could be as brave as they were, but his mind kept betraying him, imagining all the things that might be waiting for him in the dark.

"Be careful, all of you," Cassy said, looking at Halo in concern. "If anything happens, anything at all, just yell for us and run away. Don't try to fight anything on your own."

"If what you said is true, this place has been empty for over a hundred years," Heather said calmly, her eyes following Charlie as he and Tommy slipped through one of the doors and out of sight. "There's no way anything dangerous would have just sat down here that long. Monsters get hungry, you know."

Halo tried to believe her, but he just couldn't. After all, a skeleton army could easily have lasted a hundred years, since they didn't have to eat anything. Halo shook his head to clear it and turned to Albus, who looked as nervous as he was. "C'mon, let's go," Halo said, trying to sound as confident as he could. It didn't help that his voice squeaked a little. "We have a dusty old book to find."

Albus nodded and the two walked for the door directly opposite them, while Cassy and Heather and James and Rose went in different directions. Pretty soon all the others had disappeared through various doors, and Halo and Albus were the only ones left in the huge hall. Both stared at the door in front of them, neither having the courage to open it. Eventually Halo took a deep breath and grabbed the door handle, opening it slowly. It creaked as it opened, and Halo shut his eyes instinctively. Then he remembered that if something was on the other side, his eyes needed to be open so he could see it and run away. He peeked through the door with one eye as Albus nervously lifted his wand to illuminate the room. It was completely empty, and both boys sighed in relief. There was no longer any reason to hesitate, and Halo and Albus walked through the door.

The room beyond was a storeroom of some kind, Halo figured it had probably once had ingredients for potion making. There were shelves lining the walls, and each shelf had a number of small wooden trays on it. Most ingredients couldn't last a hundred years, so the trays were mostly empty except for dust and dirt. Halo wanted to just move on, partly because of all the spider webs he saw on the old shelves, but Albus was fascinated by one of the trays, which was filled with bright stones.

"These are so cool!" Albus said, picking up one of the little stones and looking at it closely. It was barely bigger than a pebble, but was bright turquoise. There were about twenty in the tray, and Albus grabbed them all, putting them in his pocket. He saw that Halo was staring at him, and turned red.

"It's not stealing," Albus said defensively, "These don't belong to anyone."

"It's not that," Halo said, laughing slightly, "It's just… why would you want some rocks?"

"I dunno," Albus said with a shrug as they walked over to the far side of the room where there was another door. "It just, when we leave this place, we'll probably never come back. It would be a shame not to have anything that reminded me where I'd been."

"I guess," Halo said uncertainly. He kind of understood what Albus was saying, but at the same time he didn't want to carry all those little stones around. And even if he never came back to this place, Halo was pretty sure he would remember it forever.

The next room had a number of large cages in it, one of which had the bones of an animal of some kind, maybe a dog. The walls and floor were pretty dirty, and Halo had the unpleasant feeling that they were covered with very old blood stains. Neither Halo nor Albus said anything as they hurried through one of the two other doors on the other side of the room, leaving the room behind without inspecting things too closely. Halo was the first to admit that he didn't necessarily love being around animals, but just thinking about what had probably been done in that room was enough to make him sick. Albus looked even worse, probably because he loved dogs. Halo felt bad for him.

The next room was so full of books that it had to have once been a library. It was nowhere near the size of the Hogwarts library, but it still probably contained more books than Halo would ever read in his lifetime. This room was not empty, though, because Atalanta stood nearby, her eyes rapidly scanning the shelves.

"This place is just a big maze," Atalanta said to Halo when she glanced at them. "The rooms all lead to each other. I ran into your idiot sister a minute ago."

Halo nodded, still feeling too sick to open his mouth.

"What's wrong?" Atalanta asked, looking back and forth between the two of them. She didn't sound sympathetic, simply curious, as if she didn't want to miss anything exciting. "Did something happen?"

"Back there," Albus said quietly, looking back fearfully at the door they had just come through. "There's… uh, some cages."

"Cages?" Atalanta asked quietly, following his eyes. Neither of them felt like explaining more, so after an awkward silence Atalanta sighed in annoyance and said, "Alright, I'll go look myself. You two look around this library for the book we're looking for. I doubt it's here, since he would most likely keep it in a more secure location, but it's a good idea to make sure. I'll be back soon."

Halo looked around at some of the books vaguely, but he had no real desire to do any actual searching. Atalanta was right, there was just no way that Grayson Vance would keep the original manuscript of his book here.

"I'm sorry you had to get stuck with me," Albus said quietly, wiping his eyes as if he was trying not to cry. Halo looked at him in surprise, not sure what the boy was talking about.

"W-what?"

"You got stuck with me, because James picked Rose," Albus continued miserably. "Even my own brother doesn't want to be paired up with me."

"That's not it," Halo said, but even he wasn't sure about that. He didn't know why James had immediately partnered up with Rose, and the way he treated Albus certainly made it seem that he didn't think much of his brother. "I wanted you as my partner!" Halo said firmly.

"You don't have to say that," Albus said dully, facing away from Halo and searching the books on the nearby shelf. "I know you'd rather be with Rose. Everyone would rather talk to Rose, or James, or Lily, or Dad, or Vic… any of my cousins, really. No one really want to talk to me, probably because I never have anything to say. I'm the most boring person ever, and everyone keeps wanting me to say stuff because my dad is famous. I just… I never know what to say." He tossed one of the books over his shoulder. He didn't really look angry, just sad. Halo stared at Albus. He had never known that the boy felt this way. He knew that his friend felt a lot of pressure to live up to the legacy of his dad, who was so famous that they almost ought to make a new word to describe how famous he was. Up until this point, though, Halo had thought that Albus dealt with the pressure rather well. Clearly, though, that wasn't the case.

Halo tried to think of what to do, for he was determined to find a way to cheer him up immediately. Albus was one of the first wizard friends Halo had ever made, and he was as loyal a friend as Halo could ever have asked for. Sure, Albus was a bit quiet, but there was nothing wrong with that. Plus, compared to Cleo, Albus was downright talkative. He tried to think of the right words to say to get through to Albus, but it wasn't easy. There just didn't seem to be a whole lot he could do right at this moment, since they were stuck down here in this creepy place. Halo found it hard to be overly positive. Halo was furious with James for making his brother feel like this. He was clearly teasing his brother too much, and it was affecting the boy's confidence, which was shaky enough as it was. He had a thing or two to say to James the next time they saw each other.

"Come on, Al," Halo said, casting aside all his fear and doubt so that he could cheer Albus up. The best thing to do was not let Albus dwell on his feelings, and Halo would find a way to cheer him up properly when they got out of here. "I wanted you as my partner because you and I make the best team. Let's find that book before everybody else and prove it. I bet it's right through that door." He chose a door at random from the dozen or so that led out of the library. This place really was like a maze.

"Alright," Albus said, smiling slightly at Halo's enthusiasm. It looked like those things he had said earlier were still bothering him, but he couldn't help but feel a little excited. After all, neither of them had ever done anything like this before. They were in a secret laboratory, a place full of magic and mystery. How could they not be excited… and obviously a little afraid.

"Y-you don't think there are monsters down here, do you?" Albus said as they got ready to go through another door.

"Uh, no, course not" Halo lied as convincingly as he could. He actually was still afraid that there was something down here, even though nothing bad seemed to have happened yet.

Albus stared at him nervously, not reassured by his answer. Halo wasn't sure what else he could say, so he just opened the door so he didn't have to speak. Lying wasn't really something he was good at. Albus used his wand to light up the doorway and nearly dropped in in surprise. Clearly visible from the doorway, maybe ten feet away, was exactly what they were looking for. There was a fancy wooden desk which was bare except for a stack of parchment, which very much looked like a book to Halo. If that wasn't they were looking for, then it wasn't here at all. Albus and Halo exchanged excited looks and rushed forward.

They both tried to examine the stack of parchment, but it was immediately clear that there was no way to tell whether it was what they were looking for or not. It was definitely a book, since the top page was clearly a cover page of some sort, but it was written completely in runes that neither of them could read. Halo sighed in frustration, and looked around the room to see if there were any other clues here. It was fairly plain office, not all that different from what Professor Evergreen's office looked like at Hogwarts, except that it was below ground. Halo figured that all professors must go to a special professor school where they learn all the boring stuff that was required to be in an office. Quills, papers, plaques and achievement medals that probably meant something to someone, but Halo was not that someone. He was about to give up and just go back Atalanta with the book when he saw something in the corner of the room. It was a strange looking machine, unlike anything that Halo had ever seen before.

It looked a bit like a tall and thin metal box, except that it had five sides. Actually, maybe it looked more like a metal version of an ancient Greek pillar, except not very tall and with five sides instead to being cylindrical. The top was completely flat, except for a little piece of metal that extended a foot or so higher, looking like one of those muggle antennas. It looked more like something that an alien would bring to earth in one of those terrible muggle movies that Halo secretly loved than something a wizard would invent, and Halo immediately went over to investigate it. It stood inside of a blue circle that someone had drawn with chalk, but the lines were so sloppy that it looked like some kid had drawn it while playing. Honestly Halo wasn't terrible interested in some old chalk because there was a handle sticking out of the machine that hadn't been visible from where Halo had been standing before. He wondered what this thing did, it seemed so strange. Maybe if he grabbed the handle, he would be able to find out. It had to do something, and there was really no other way to find out. He hesitated, torn with indecision. It was obviously not a good idea to touch strange things, especially in the wizard world, but there was just no other way to learn what this thing was. After all, it might be important… maybe he could use it somehow to keep everyone safe and stop the disaster that was going to happen. As soon as he thought about it like that, he didn't hesitate any more. He would do anything to save his family, his friends and every else. He reached forward to grab the handle.

His fingers were maybe an inch away when there was a huge crash behind him, and Halo was launched off his feet. Halo realized later that it had happened the exact moment that his hand reached across the line of blue chalk, but at the time he wasn't thinking about the chalk at all. He landed painfully, and for a second or so he couldn't make sense of anything. He lay there completely stunned, unable to think about anything except how much his back hurt.

"Halo, we have to run," Albus said urgently, right in his ear. Halo opened his eyes to look at Albus, who was crouching beside him with the stack of his parchment tucked under his left arm. He tried to pull Halo to his feet with his other arm, but he wasn't that strong. Halo scrambled to his feet, wincing at the pain in his back. He wasn't sure if he was bleeding or not, and he didn't want to find out, in case he was.

"What h-happened?" Halo asked, but Albus didn't respond. He just pulled Halo away urgently, heading back towards the library. Halo looked around in confusion as he stumbled after Albus, and at first it looked like the office they were in had exploded. There was dust everywhere, but after Halo's mind made sense of the confusion he saw that that wasn't what'd happened at all. The office hadn't exploded, just the back wall, and that was only because something had smashed it. That something, that twelve-foot metal something, was a metal robot that was moving right for them. Halo swallowed hard, not really understanding, and together he and Albus ran away as fast as they could.

When Halo had a spare millisecond to think about it, be realized that robot wasn't really the right word for the metal thing chasing them. Robots were mechanical machines made with computers and electricity and things like that. This was just a suit of metal that was enchanted to chase after them and probably tear them apart. Halo wasn't sure what that was called, so he decided to just stick with robot. He didn't give it much thought, either, because he was more focused on running. They sprinted back into the library, where Atalanta, Charlie and Tommy were all looking through the various books.

"What is-" Atalanta started to say, but the robot thing interrupted her by smashing his way through the doorway and leaping into the room, landing only a few feet from Halo and Albus. Halo had never imagined that something made of metal could jump like that, and stumbled backwards, terrified. This thing was going to catch them.

"That's… a golem," Atalanta said quietly, drawing her wand in a flash. "The rest of you need to get out of here, now." Tommy didn't need to be told twice. He raced over to Albus and Halo, leading them away from the golem thing as it straightened, turning its metal head to face Atalanta. It didn't have any eyes, and its head was made up entirely of plain metal except for a single rune in the middle of its forehead that glowed bright orange. Halo didn't spend too long looking at it, he just ran.

Charlie didn't run with the others. He drew his own wand and stood beside Atalanta, pointing his own wand at the golem.

"Get out of here, Ravenclaw," Halo heard Atalanta mutter, as if annoyed that Charlie was trying to help her.

"Hey, Ravenclaws know a thing or two," he heard Charlie say in a light-hearted tone. "REDUCTO!" shouted the boy, and Halo saw a jet of blue light flash out of the corner of his eye. Halo turned around to see if it had done anything. The golem had raised its arm to protect itself, and half of its left arm had been blasted off, reduced to metal powder. But as Halo watched it, he saw the golem's arm regenerate in a little over a second, the metal just appearing out of nowhere. Charlie's eyes widened and he said, "That's, uh, not good."

"That really is a golem," Atalanta said, sounding close to something that one might call nervous. But this Atalanta Selwyn, and Halo knew that she didn't get nervous. "This is lost magic, like the philosopher's stone. They can regenerate forever, unless you destroy the rune of power giving it life."

"Uh, so we hit the head?" Charlie asked, stepping backwards as the golem moved towards them.

"It's protecting itself with its arms," Atalanta said. "We need more firepower."

"So… run?" Charlie asked, taking another step backwards.

"Run," agreed Atalanta, and together they turned and fled. Halo and the others, who had stopped to watch what was going on, turned and ran too, making their way through the maze of rooms.

Halo wasn't sure how long they ran, the rooms all blended together for him. First they found Cassy and Heather, and then they ran past James and Rose, who, after the briefest possible explanation of what was going on, joined them in the mad dash for the exit. Atalanta stopped a few times to fire spells at the golem, but all it only slowed the thing a little bit. Halo was almost too exhausted to run anymore when they burst back into the tall room that led to the exit. The golem was close behind them, and Halo realized that it would catch them before they could escape.

"Alright, everyone cast together," Atalanta commanded, turning to face the golem. "Aim for the head, and wait until I've fired my curse." Everyone except Halo, Rose and Albus raised their wands and nodded in agreement. Halo wished that he could do something, but he had no idea how to cast any offensive spells, and, since he struggled with charms, probably wouldn't be able to cast them even if he had been taught how.

"_REDUCTO MAXIMA!_" Atalanta shouted loudly, and a bolt of blue light shot at the golem, who raised its arms to defend itself. Atalanta's spell blasted both its arms apart, leaving the golem's head completely exposed. Cassy, James, and Charlie yelled "_Reducto,_" while Tommy and Heather yelled "_Expulso,_" and five jets of light struck the golem's head, blasting it to nothing. Halo, Rose and Albus cheered, and the golem dropped to one knee. Slowly, though, the golem's head began to reform, and it rose to its feet again.

"The rune… the rune was a fake," Atalanta said, closing her eyes and trying to think. "The true rune giving the golem its power must be hidden, probably its chest, where the metal is the thickest. We aren't strong enough to stop this thing."

"We have to try," James said stubbornly. "_Reducto,_" his jet of blue light struck the golem's chest, but it only made a small crater in the metal, which soon regenerated.

"We need to get the younger kids to safety," Cassy said in a scared voice, looking over at her brother. "Heather, get them out of here."

"I'm not leaving you the rest of you," Heather said, looking at Cassy as if she were crazy. Halo wanted to say something, but he just couldn't find the words. This was all his fault. They were all here because of him. He had told them about the vision, he had found out about the book and Grayson Vance. If only he could do something to help… there, there had to be something he could do. Hermione kept saying he was special since he had been born without the Trace, but even with all the power of a full grown wizard he couldn't do anything. In the end, he was nothing but a little boy with a twisted wand.

Halo drew that wand, wishing more than anything that he could use it to help as the older students fired more curses, trying to slow the golem down. James and Cassy kept yelling that Halo, Albus and Rose should run, but none of them moved an inch. There was no way that they were going to leave their family and friends behind. Halo felt tears forming in his eyes, but immediately he brushed them away. This was no time to break down and cry.

"Damn it," Halo said quietly, glaring at his wand. "Can't you do anything when I really need you? It's great that you can give me clues, but I really need a bit more help, wand." Halo felt a little silly talking to his wand, but he just felt like it could hear him. Even though he was the one who had started talking to it, Halo was still a little surprised when the wand shook slightly in his hand, as if it were actually responding. He didn't know what that meant, but then it gave a tug in his hand, and he almost dropped it. Halo struggled to hold onto it, for the wand jerked around in his hand, almost like it was trying to cast itself. Halo felt a sudden rush of understanding. That was exactly what it was trying to do. His wand… his wand was trying to_ show _him how to cast spells correctly! Halo relaxed his arm, and tried to clear his mind. He had only had one chance, one chance to save everyone. The golem had almost reached them. Halo reached deep inside himself, trying to gather every bit of magical energy he had inside him. He knew that his wand understood what he was trying to do, and that it would help guide his hand through casting a spell that he had never attempted before. He took one last deep breath and pointed his twisted sycomore wand at the golem's chest.

"_REDUCTO MAXIMA!_" Halo shouted, and he let his wand guide him through the motion, his hand moving in a slightly different way than Atalanta's hand had moved when she cast the spell, but it worked all the same. A huge beam of blue light erupted from the end of his wand, and blasted into the golem, which was knocked back. Most of its chest was blasted into metal powder, and the parts of the golem that were left did not rise back up. He'd done it.

Halo wanted to celebrate, but he was suddenly far too tired to do anything except yawn and try to stay on his feet for a second or two. He managed to think one thought, _crap, magic drain_, before he stumbled, fell over, and completely lost consciousness.


	34. Chapter 31

Chapter 31 Delicate

The first thing Halo was aware of was his pounding headache. It hurt so much that he didn't want to open his eyes, he just wanted to go back to sleep. His head couldn't hurt if he was asleep, could it? But something was wrong. There was something heavy on his left leg, and he wanted to get it off. What was going on, why did things hurt? He just couldn't remember, everything was so fuzzy. Mustering all the energy he could, Halo slowly forced his eyes to open.

He was lying in a comfortable bed in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, with the late afternoon sun shining through the windows. Halo frowned, struggling to remember what he was doing here. He was supposed to be… somewhere else, wasn't he?

"He's awake!" someone shouted, and before Halo could brace himself Rose launched herself from where she'd been sitting on his leg and hugged him tightly. Her hug kind of hurt, but at least she wasn't cutting off the circulation to his leg anymore. A second later Cassy and Albus rushed to his side. Cassy hugged him just as tightly, burying her face in his side, while Albus put his hand on his shoulder, looking very relieved. He was happy to see them all, but honestly it was a little hard to breathe with them crowding him like this.

"You're going to kill him," Atalanta said, although she didn't sound terribly concerned. In fact, she sounded a bit angry as she came to stand beside Halo's bed, looking down at him without smiling. Rose and Albus both backed up, giving him some space, but Cassy didn't move. She just kept holding on to her brother tightly, her head buried in his side.

"She's been really worried," Rose said, patting Cassy's back reassuringly. "We all have. You've been unconscious for hours."

"What happened, how did I get here?" Halo asked, looking around at the others. His memories had come back to him, but the last thing he could remember was destroying the golem in Grayson Vance's hidden laboratory.

"We took you back to Hogwarts under the cloak," Rose said, as if it were obvious. "We weren't just going to leave you there! No one was sure what had happened to you at first, and we had to make sure you were okay."

"You carried me all the way back to Hogwarts?" Halo asked, staring at Rose in amazement. It must have taken forever.

"Of course not, you idiot," snapped Atalanta, sounding rather more aggressive than normal. "I cast a locomotor charm on you to make you weightless, and they just had to guide your body back. Obviously they wouldn't have been able to carry you all the way back from Hogsmede."

"Do not talk to my brother like that," Cassy said angrily, raising her head for the first time and glaring viciously at Atalanta.

"It's his own fault for being such a reckless fool," Atalanta said angrily, folding her arms over her chest. "That spell used up so much of his energy that he's lucky there was no permanent damage." Halo gulped nervously, for he had completely forgotten about all that. Hermione had warned him that he could do some serious damage to his soul, but he hadn't thought about that at all when his friend's lives were on the line. He didn't regret his actions at all, but he probably should have been more careful.

"My brother saved us all, Selwyn," Cassy said in a low, dangerous voice, rising to her feet and drawing her wand. "You wouldn't call him an idiot if you cared about him at all."

Halo thought that was a little unfair. He knew Atalanta well enough to know that the only reason she was this angry with him was because she did care, but she was really bad at expressing herself the way that normal people did. Her version of love just kind of came out really angry. Atalanta's eyes flashed, and she drew her own wand quickly, pointing it at Cassy. Halo just lay there, completely unsure what to say to make them stop. He just… he just wanted everyone to stop fighting.

"I don't think Halo wants you to fight," a girl said quietly from the corner of the room who Halo couldn't see. "You should stop."

Atalanta and Cassy seemed to come to their senses. Without another word Atalanta stormed out of the hospital wing, while Cassy quickly stowed her wand and sat back down beside her brother. Halo sat up slowly to look at the girl who'd spoken. Cleo was sitting in a chair by the foot of his bed, her legs tucked under her chin. Her eyes held his gaze for several seconds before dropping to staring at the floor.

"I'm glad you're alright," she said quietly. It was not something that she would have ever said a few weeks ago, but it was a sign that Cleo was slowly changing. It made Halo happy.

"You should have been more careful," Rose said disapprovingly. "After all, you've fainted before by using too much power."

"Sorry I worried you, all of you," Halo mumbled, because both Cassy and Rose were looking at him sternly. "I wasn't thinking about magic drain at all when I used that spell. I just wanted to stop that thing."

"You certainly did that," Albus said, shaking his head in admiration. Apparently the fact that he'd almost seriously hurt himself didn't diminish how cool the spell had been. Halo appreciated that. This was why boys were so much easier to hang out with then girls. They got it.

Halo rubbed his head, which still throbbed a little. Magic drain really made him feel awful. "By the way," he asked, "what did you tell Madame Abbott when you brought me here?"

"Well, I told her that you were doing some extra practice for charms and you just… overdid it a bit."

"And she believed that?" Halo asked, a little surprised. It wasn't a very good excuse, and he didn't much like the idea that people thought he passed out just from doing homework.

"Course she did, everyone believes Rose," Albus said, laughing a little. "Everyone think she's too much of a good girl to lie."

"It really wasn't hard to convince Madame Abbott, since she knows about your situation," Rose said, looking half-sheepish, half-pleased. "She knows you can use much more than someone normally can at your age."

"Yeah, but what about everyone else?" Halo asked, trying not to sound too concerned. "What are they going to think?"

"Everyone's just been really worried about you," Cassy said, reaching out to squeeze Halo's hand reassuringly. "Your Slytherins came by to visit, and so did the other first years in our little society… and your little friend Evey even stopped by for a bit. Heather, Tommy, and Charlie came by too, they wanted to say thank you. They all know what really happened. That spell was absolutely amazing, so no one thinks any less of you for the toll it took on you."

Halo nodded, although he wasn't completely reassured. There were a whole lot of people at this school who had no idea about what had happened, and they might think he was a total wimp. And James would probably decide to make fun of him anyways. Speaking of James…

"By the way where's your brother?" Halo asked Albus. "Not that I care of course," he added quickly so there would be no mistake.

"He was just here, actually," Rose said, her eyes watching him closely, as if she knew that it was more important to him then he was letting on. He hated how hard it was to hide things from her. "But he left to go get Victoire."

"Your cousin?" Halo asked, confused. "Why?"

"Well, we need someone who can read this," Albus said, reaching down beside his chair and holding up the unbound book that they had recovered from Grayson Vance's laboratory. "Selwyn said it was the same language that she had seen above the door, and that she couldn't actually read it-"

"That's no big surprise," growled Cassy angrily, "She knows way less than she pretends to."

"Well, anyways," Albus continued careful not to disagree with Cassy, who was clearly in no mood to be argued with. "We needed someone who could read these strange runes. Vic is a seventh year, and she's studying for her N.E.W.T. in ancient runes. James and Rose figured that if anyone could read this book, it would be her."

That made sense, but Halo was a little uneasy. He had only met Victoire Weasley once, right after he had first suffered from magic drain. He didn't think he'd made a very good impression. Actually, he'd yelled at James and said some pretty mean things to Rose. He didn't like thinking about that day very much. He hoped Victoire wouldn't bring it up when she saw him.

"Can we trust her?" Rose glared at him, and Halo realized that the words had come out wrong. "I-I just mean, will she believe me?"

"I don't know," Rose admitted, glancing at Albus, who shrugged. "We decided not to tell her what we were up to, at least not yet. If she really can read that book, though, we are going to have to explain ourselves eventually. It will pretty obvious that a book about blood magic isn't just something you happen upon."

"I guess," Halo said, still uncertain. He was just nervous that they would eventually come across someone who just thought that he was barking mad for seeing visions of the sky being set on fire. His friends had been surprisingly understanding so far, but all it took was one person to tell the professors what they'd been up to, and Halo and his friends would be in serious trouble.

Just as Halo's headache was finally starting to fade, the door to the hospital wing opened and James walked in, followed by his cousin Victoire. She was tall with long blonde hair that flowed down her back elegantly. Halo was honestly a little intimidated by her, even though she looked pretty cheerful as she came over and gave each of her younger cousins a big hug. He had heard one of the Slytherins say that she was this year's Head Girl, and the fact that she was tall, beautiful, smart and talented just made her… well, a bit scary. Victoire ruffled Albus's hair affectionately, nodded to Cassy politely, and ignored Cleo utterly before turning to Halo and saying, "I heard what happened to you, Wiggins" she said kindly. "Just get some rest, and I'm sure you'll feel better in no time." She gave his leg a sympathetic little pat that Halo didn't really appreciate. She was going a little overboard with her concern, but at least she wasn't holding their first meeting against him.

"And I don't want either of you worrying," Victoire said, turning to her younger cousins. "Madame Abbot is the best there is, and I'm sure your friend will be fine. He's just a little delicate."

Delicate?! Halo raged silently in his own mind. Halo Wiggins was most certainly not delicate. Did no one appreciate that he had had blasted a hole in the middle of giant metal man animated by magic? That was as non-delicate as it got, if that was even a word.

"I told Vic how Wiggins struggles with charms, and that's how he ended up like this. He just tries so hard sometimes, the poor lad." James sounded sympathetic, but Halo could tell that he was enjoying this way too much. Halo was really starting to hate Rose's stupid story. It made him look like the weakest wizard in the history of Hogwarts, who fainted while trying to do homework.

"I'm sure you'll be up and about before you know it," Victoire said, squeezing Halo's shoulder reassuringly. Halo was barely able to keep himself from saying something about golems and maximized charms and how cool he was, but Cassy caught his eye and shook her head slightly, as if reading her brother's mind. Halo scowled and lay back on his bed, keeping his mouth shut. It was obviously a bad idea to tell the Head Girl that he'd snuck out to Hogsmede with her cousins. Even the most understanding school prefect would probably turn them in for something like that… except Atalanta. But then, Atalanta was a little different.

"So, Victoire, do you think you can help us?" Cassy asked.

"Maybe. Let me see the book," Victoire replied. Albus held out the unbound book to his cousin, who took the pages carefully. She studied the cover page, her dark blue eyes scanning the runes intently.

"That Selwyn girl was right, this whole book is written in Midunetjer," Victoire said, turning to James, her voice full of excitement. "I've never seen anything like this, it's unbelievable! There are no books like this in Britain, except in museums. Where did you get this?"

"Our mother has a friend who travels all over the world," Cassy said smoothly, not even hesitating a second with the lie. She had clearly thought about what she was going to say, because not even Cassy was that good at thinking something up on the spot. "He sent us this book when he heard that we'd started the Hogwarts Obscure Magic Appreciation Society."

"It's a club, not a society," corrected Rose quietly, but no one responded. It was very possible that no one heard her except Halo. It was equally possible that no one cared.

"Yeah I heard about that club," Victoire said distractedly, studying the runes on the cover closely. "A few of the other seventh years thought it was brilliant, and wished they'd thought of it themselves. Obscure magic is fascinating, and I wouldn't mind learning more about it myself."

Everyone except Cleo, who unsurprisingly kept her eyes fixed on the floor, exchanged uneasy looks. They had never anticipated that this might happen. What were they going to do if someone actually wanted to join their fake club? That might ruin everything.

"I don't think any of the older students would want to waste time with us," Cassy said, trying to sound casual. "After all, we aren't dealing with any serious magic."

"I'm not so sure about that," Victoire said, her eyes still locked on the runes. "This books sure looks pretty serious. We've only just started studying world runes in class, and I can only read a little Egyptian."

"Egyptian?" Halo asked curiously.

"Midunetjer is a rune language developed thousands of years ago in Ancient Egypt," Victoire explained. "Back in those days, it was used by wizards as a companion language to hieroglyphics. It is impossible for muggles to tell the difference, and it can still be found in temples all over Egypt. My dad sees plenty of it as a cursebreaker. His stories are one of the reasons I kept studying runes for this long."

"Uncle Bill is the coolest," James said, shaking his head in admiration. Albus and Rose nodded emphatically, and Halo, though he had never met the man, figured they probably knew what they were talking about. Had she just said cursebreaker?

"As far as I can tell," Victoire continued, tracing her finger over the symbols, "this book is entitled The Poorly Understood Art of… uh, something. I'm sorry, I don't recognize that last word. The authors name is, let me see… Grey Sun Vans, or maybe Grey Son Vannis. Modern names are never easy to read, since they're depicted with phonetic symbols. That's about all I can tell you. I don't know the language well enough to be able to read the whole thing."

Halo didn't really care about that, because he was just so relieved that the after everything they had went through to get that stack of papers, it actually was what they were looking for. He would have hated to go through all that for nothing.

"Who would be able to read it?" Rose asked, her hand shaking slightly from excitement. Halo knew how much Rose loved solving mysteries.

"Well, my dad for one," Victoire said, slowly handing the book back to Albus. She looked reluctant to let it go, and Halo could tell it had piqued her interest. "He can probably read Midunetjer better than anyone in Britain. Unfortunately he's in South America for the next month or so, breaking curses in a newly rediscovered temple in northern Peru."

Halo was actually slightly relieved by that. They had been reluctant to tell any grownups about this, because they weren't sure they'd be believed. He wasn't sure whether Mr. Weasley would have helped them by translating the book or force them to stop looking into it.

"Well, is there anyone else?" Halo asked, refusing to give up. They really needed to find whatever clues were hidden in this book. His wand wouldn't have guided him to it for no reason.

"Well, there's always Teddy," Victoire said, her eyes sparkling strangely.

"Teddy?" Halo asked, confused. "Who's that?"

"Teddy Lupin, my boyfriend," Victoire said with a happy smile, as if the name was the best thing in the whole wide world. "He got an O on his N.E.W.T. in Ancient Runes, and he's taking a class on world runes at the Sion Magic Academy."

"The what?" Halo was confused. He had heard of Ted Lupin, but he had always assumed that the boy had gone to Hogwarts.

"Sion Academy is kind of like a muggle university, where wizards from all over Europe study advanced subjects that aren't necessary taught at Hogwarts," Rose explained patiently, "Teddy is studying there for a year before applying to the Auror Office."

"This is great," James said excitedly, "Teddy's perfect."

Halo wasn't sure about that, but the others certainly seemed convinced. Victoire nodded dreamily, as if she thought that perfect was the exact right term to describe her boyfriend. Albus and Rose were both as excited as James was, and Halo figured it was probably best to trust their judgement. After all, they knew him the best.

"Teddy is on break from the Academy right now, because they have a break in classes for Halloween," Victoire said excitedly. "I could ask the Headmistress for permission for him to come to the feast on Tuesday. Graduates aren't really supposed to come, but I'm sure they would make an exception for him. She loved Teddy, because he was in her house while he was at Hogwarts. I once heard her say that Teddy was the brightest Hufflepuff she ever taught. It would be so great if he could come!" She smiled a wide, bright smile, lost in her own daydream. "Oh," she added as an afterthought, "and before the feast, I guess you could show him the book."

Rose and Albus were delighted at the prospect of seeing Teddy Lupin in a few days, and James looked as though he were trying very hard not to seem as excited as he was for fear of looking uncool. Halo and Cassy exchanged looks, and the two of them both shrugged. If they were all this excited, then Halo figure he must be pretty special. Cleo, as usual, said nothing, but if any of them had been looking over at her, they would have seen that her little hands were clenched a little tighter than normal. Halo did not remember at the time that Cleo and Teddy had both been raised by Andromeda Tonks, or else he would have asked her what she thought. But he did not remember, and Clytemnestra Lestrange, as was often the case, said nothing at all to anyone.

The Weasleys and Potters laughed and talked loudly in their excitement, and that brought Madame Abbott out of the healer's office at the far side of the hospital wing with a stern look on her face.

"All right, clear out, the lot of you," she said not unkindly, making a shooing motion towards Rose and Albus, whom she had known since they were babies. Cassy and the others grumbled, but they had no choice but to obey. They all said goodbye to Halo, with Albus and Rose promising to visit him again soon, and left the hospital wing. Everyone, that is, except Cleo, who look as though she did not want to move. She just sat like she usually did, hugging her knees to her chest with her eyes fixed on her own kneecaps.

"Harry needs to rest Miss… Lestrange," Madame Abbott said, awkwardly pausing before she could bring herself to say the name.

"I want to stay," Cleo replied, not looking up. Her voice was barely louder than a whisper, but it was more assertive than anything Halo had ever heard her say. "I promise I'll be quiet."

Halo smiled, thinking that was hardly a difficult thing for her to promise. It was like grass promising to be green, or James promising to be mean. "I'd like Cleo to stay too," he said.

Madame Abbott hesitated, but she couldn't seem to think of any reason why Cleo couldn't stay. At last she said, "Ten minutes, then Harry needs to get some sleep. He's put a lot of strain on his young body." Halo scowled as the healer headed back to her office. There it was again; people treating him as if he were a weakling.

"I'm not delicate," Halo muttered, looking over at Cleo anxiously. He didn't want her to think…

"I know," Cleo replied, her gaze flashing to him for a second before dropping to the ground again. It wasn't a very long response, but it was enough for Halo. Feeling relieved, he lay back on his bed. He honestly was pretty exhausted, although he would never have admitted it while the others were around. He didn't want to give James any more reason to make fun of him.

Halo might have dozed off for a second or so, but before he could truly fall asleep the doors to the hospital wing opened again and Hermione Weasley and Ginny Potter hurried in. Hermione looked concerned as he hurried over to Halo's bed, while Ginny had a look on her face that Halo didn't quite understand. Before either of them could say anything, Madame Abbott hurried out of her office, looking less than happy.

"Harry is resting," she said, looking at the newcomers sternly. "I have to ask you to come back later, maybe tomorrow."

"This is very important," Hermione said, looking at Halo closely and not even turning to face the healer. Halo could practically see the gears in her mind turning, and she clearly did not want to be distracted.

"I'm sure it can wait until Harry is rested," Madame Abbott said, crossing her arms and glowering fiercely at Hermione. She clearly did not appreciate Hermione's tone.

"Hannah," Hermione said, turning to face her old friend.

"Don't _Hannah_ me," the healer snapped, nostrils flaring.

"We won't be long," Ginny said gently, stepping in to play peacemaker. "You know that we would never do anything to endanger Harry's health. It's just that his situation is unique, and we need to know as much about what happened as we can before any details are forgotten. Please."

Halo was sure that Madame Abbott would refuse and yell at them to go away, but after a long pause she turned to Cleo and, without looking at the others said, "Come along, Miss. It's time to get you back to your common room."

Cleo glanced reluctantly at Halo, but he gave her a reassuring smile that he hoped let her know that everything would be alright, and Cleo silently let the healer lead her away. Halo watched her go, but he was the only one who did. Neither Hermione nor Ginny had so much as glanced at Cleo the whole time they were there. Halo was used to that, since nearly everyone treated Cleo as if she were either invisible or a monster, but it was starting to bother him more and more. He opened his mouth to complain about it, but Hermione spoke first, driving all thoughts of complaining form his mind.

"Harry," she said, sounding serious, or maybe a little worried. "Tell me exactly what happened."

Halo swallowed nervously, wondering what to say. The truth was out of the question, since Hermione and Ginny would kill him if they ever found out what Vance's golem had nearly done to their children. At the same time, he didn't think that Rose's feeble lie about charms would fool her mother. Hermione was much too clever for that, but he had no choice but to try.

"Well, you see, I was practicing_ Wingardium Leviosa_ for charms, and I just couldn't get it to work at all," Halo said, trying to his best to sound as if he weren't completely making it up. "I got frustrated, and tried to use every bit of power I could. I guess I just… wore myself out."

Hermione frowned, and Halo had a sinking feeling in his stomach. Ginny was watching Halo closely as well, her face strangely neutral. Neither of them were buying it. "You shouldn't be able to drain your energy like that using a simple charm," Hermione said, sounding nervous. "They use very limited power. I think that the absence of the Trace might have a different effect on the body then I originally thought. It's possible that learning magic at all is unsafe for you. It might be best…"

"NO!" Halo said, sitting up anxiously. Was she really suggesting that he be taken out of Hogwarts now? She couldn't possibly mean that! He thought desperately of anything he could say that wouldn't reveal where they had really been. Stupid Rose and her stupid excuses, Halo thought, panicking. This is all her fault.

"I-I think it might have something to do with… my wand!" Halo said, finally deciding what to say halfway through his sentence.

"Your wand?" Hermione asked, looking at the wand carefully, where it stood on the table beside his bed. "What about it?"

"I-it's, well, it's been acting on its own. It sort of tries to tell me things sometimes."

Hermione blinked in surprised, then gave him a sceptical little half-smile. "Harry," she said with maddening patience. "I know every wizard likes to think that their wand is special, but the truth is the wand is only as good as the wizard. Coincidentally, I've tried to tell another stubborn man named Harry the same thing for years, but he refuses to believe me." She shook her head in disapproval.

"You mean Mr. Potter?" Halo asked excitedly. "Is his wand special too?"

"Of course not," Hermione said a little shortly, as if she was tired of having this conversation. "There is only one… or rather, there is no evidence of any wand with exception powers. It simply comes to a wizard's individual skill." Hermione turned slightly pink, as if she were embarrassed that she'd almost said something she shouldn't have. Halo wasn't really paying attention, though. He was too busy thinking about his wand. Hermione was the smartest witch he knew, but he knew for certain that she was wrong about this. His wand was definitely special, and it had definitely answered him when he had asked it to.

"I still don't understand how a charm like that could have drained so much magic that you lost consciousness for several hours," Hermione said, drawing Halo back to reality harshly. "I suppose your wand could have had something to do with. I don't know a lot about sycomore wood. It is a very ancient kind of tree, and it does not grow outside of Africa and Arabia."

"Your daughter and my Albus were with Harry when it happened. Perhaps you could ask them if they noticed anything," Ginny suggested, and Halo spirits plummeted further. There was no their story would hold up if they were all questioned about it. This was bad.

"You go on," Ginny prompted, as Hermione looked hesitant to leave. "I'll ask Harry a few more questions. Go see your daughter."

Hermione nodded. The prospect of seeing her daughter for the first time in weeks clearly tipped the scales for her, and with one last anxious look she left the hospital wing.

Ginny pulled up the chair and sat opposite Halo, her brown eyes watching him, almost without blinking. "I think we both know that you didn't overdue it casting a simple charm," Ginny said bluntly.

"W-what do you mean?" Halo stammered. He was too far in to stop lying now.

"Harry, I was born with six older brothers, including George and Fred, who got themselves in more trouble that you could even dream of. You'll have to work much, much harder than that to fool me."

Halo kept quiet at this point. He could think of nothing to say.

"I got a message from a very old friend this morning," Ginny continued, watching him with that same expression on her face that he didn't understand. "Oliver Wood and I played against each other many, many times, and he blocked more of my shots than I care to think about. His sister is almost ten years younger than he was, but Eileen Wood is every bit as good a keeper as he is, and she was my teammate on the Harpies. Did you really think that you could stroll over to Hogsmede and no one would hear about it?"

Halo stammered a few syllables, but no words came out.

"The Ministry has already begun swarming the place, exploring every inch of that hidden laboratory. I pulled a few favours, and took a look around myself. I saw the metal construct that was down there with a giant hole in its chest," Ginny continued quietly. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened."

"D-does Hermione know?" Halo managed to say at last.

"No, and I'm not going to tell her, or anyone else for that matter," Ginny said evenly.

"You're not?"

"No. She wouldn't understand, and neither would my husband. I love Harry to death, but whenever someone acts half as reckless as he himself does he gets upset. He's a bit of an idiot about it, actually."

"You aren't mad?" Halo asked, very confused. Did she know that her sons had been there?

"Oh, I'm mad," Ginny said, eyes narrowing dangerously, "but at the same time, I know my boys and I know Rose. She certainly wouldn't do anything this dangerous without a good reason. She's got much more sense at her age than anyone I've ever met. She certainly has loads more than I did at her age. There's something going on, isn't there?"

Halo nodded slowly. Would Ginny believe him if he told her everything, or would she just tell him it was all nonsense? What should he do?

"Fine," Ginny said, surprising him. "That's good enough for me. Just promise be more careful in the future. I don't want to see you hurt yourself."

"Um, sure," Halo said, head spinning.

"My family isn't exactly what you'd call normal," Ginny said, smiling slightly at his confusion. "My oldest brother explores ancient tombs, undoing deadly curses for a living, and my brother Charlie risks his life ever day training dragons. Percy opens himself up to violent retaliation every time he opens his mouth to bore someone to death, and George and Fred could have blown themselves up who knows how many times before they ever left school." Her voice caught slightly as she said Fred's name, and she looked as though she had something in her eye. "Ron is far too stupid to keep himself out of trouble, and I married a man who got himself into more messes by the time he was seventeen years old than most people experience in a whole lifetime. Through that all, I have learned to have a little faith in them. If I spent all my time worrying about everything that could go wrong, I would quickly lose my mind. Instead I choose to love them, and believe that they know what they are doing. Even my boys, who I sometimes still think are way too young, would never do anything like this for no reason or without thinking it through. Hard as it is, I choose to believe in them, and in you too, Harry."

Harry was equal parts touched and uneasy. If he told Ginny what they were doing, he doubted she would be quite so understanding. After all, the lack of evidence certainly could make it look like they hadn't thought it through, even though they had.

"I wasn't lying about my wand," Halo said, mostly to change the subject before she changed her mind and decided to ask them what they were up to. "It really is acting on its own."

"I thought as much," Ginny said, looking at the wand closely. "Hermione is very stubborn about that particular subject, and it's always the surest way for Harry and Hermione to start a fight."

"Why?"

"During the final year of the Second Wizarding War, something happened that has never been explained. Harry was flying with Hagrid, trying to escape from Voldemort, who was pursuing him through the air. My husband was cornered, but at the very moment that Voldemort pointed his wand at Harry to kill him, Harry's wand acted on its own, defending him against Voldemort just long enough for them to get away. Hermione has stubbornly maintained for years that his wand couldn't have possibly acted on its own, while Harry maintains just as stubbornly that he was in no condition to use any magic at that point. Harry has been searching for an explanation for years, only one person skilled in wand lore has ever been willing to take himself seriously."

"Who?" Halo asked curiously.

"My sister-in-law Fleur, who married my brother Bill."

"Victoire's mother?" Halo asked, surprised. "I had no idea she knew about wands."

"Her grandfather is one of the finest wand makers in France," Ginny said. "He made her wand herself, which contains Veela hair from her grandmother. Fleur was one of the brightest witches of her generation, and in recent years she's been getting more involved in the family business. She's not a bad wandmaker herself, actually."

"And she can explain why my wand is acting strangely?" Halo asked, feeling hopeful.

"Maybe. I think she has a theory, but that's all it is at this point." Ginny said. "I'll ask her come by and see you, maybe this week. She'll have far more answer than I do."

Halo nodded excitedly, just as Madame Abbott came back. She glared furiously at Ginny, who took it as a hint that she ought to get going.

"Don't worry about Hermione, I'll think of some way to keep her from overreacting without telling her the truth," Ginny said as she got up to leave. "Just promise me you'll be more careful in the future."

"I promise," Halo said.

"Good," Ginny said turning to go. She paused and turned back to Halo.

"And please, keep my boys safe. I couldn't bear to lose anyone else."

Before Halo could think of a reply to that, Ginny was gone. She didn't shed any tears for Fred, Lupin, Tonks, Sirius or Dumbledore or any of her other dear friends as she left, she was too strong for that.

But it was a near thing.


	35. Chapter 31 and a half

Chapter 31.5 Shanjavi

_The grass between her toes was so soft and warm, and there was nothing she wanted to do except just lay back in the sunshine and relax. She would have been more than happy to take a nap on the little hillside overlooking the big, huge ocean that spread out in front of her, but that probably wasn't going to happen. Was it even possible to take a nap while dreaming? Lily rather doubted it._

_There was a rustle and the sound of something slithering behind her, and Lily tried her best not to sigh. That would be Oxalion of course, coming to lecture her about something or other. Could he give her just a few minutes to enjoy the amazing view of this particular dream and the wonderful feeling of the grass between her toes? Of course he couldn't. Complain, complain, complain, that was all the snake ghost ever did. She'd thought he was a rather interesting ghost when she'd first met him. Now she knew better._

_"Greetings, hatchling," Oxalion hisses as he slithered around from behind her and into view. He sounded almost… happy. Odd, Lily thought to herself, sitting up curiously. She gave the snake a puzzled look, wondering if he was actually happy. Lily couldn't tell, since snakes didn't exactly smile. Oxalion might be happy, or he might just be hungry. Hard to say._

_"You have done well," Oxalion continued, bobbing his scaly head up and down. "All hope is not yet lost."_

_Lily frowned, not really feeling much better. She knew there had to have been a better way to phrase that. Maybe good job or hurray for Lily. But no, it had to be all hope is not yet lost, as if it were about to be lost any second._

_"So did I manage to prevent the world from being all burned up?" Lily asked, hoping desperately that it was over._

_"No, that future still exists, and it is rapidly approaching," Oxalion said, very matter-of-factly. "But your actions, and the actions of those you shared your vision with, have also kept open the path to the future where the disaster is prevented. Well done, hatchling."_

_Lily felt maybe a teensy bit better, but not really. It didn't seem like she ought to be congratulated for not dooming the world… yet. Team Nargle was aiming it's a goals a little higher, as in saving the day and all that._

_"I don't know what else I can do, since I can't talk to any of the others," Lily pouted, hoping that Oxalion would make her feel better somehow. She was still in trouble for sneaking into Hogwarts, and she hadn't seen Evey in weeks. Daddy had finally let her go back and help out at Auntie Luna's day-care, but Evey hadn't been there. How could Team Nargle possibly do its mission when they couldn't see or talk to each other?_

_"You have a role to play yet, hatchling," Oxalion said cryptically._

_"Hang on," Lily said, eyes narrowing in suspicion, "how can you be so sure? You told me that you couldn't see what was going to happen next. You said I had to decide what to do on my own!"_

_"Indeed I did," Oxalion said, looking maddeningly smug. Stupid smuggy snake. "Thankfully, however, your actions so far have clarified the future for me. I can predict with some certainty what ought to be done to prevent the coming disaster. The road will not be an easy one, but I have faith that you will be able to fulfil your role when the time is right, hatchling."_

_"Role? What role?" Lily asked, eyes wide. Did Oxalion really know what she had to do to?_

_"It will all be made clear, in time," Oxalion said, obviously choosing to be deliberately unhelpful._

_"You're not going to tell me!?" Lily raged, unable to believe it._

_"No, for that would not be the best decision at this time," the snake said softly. "You must wait for the right time, and then all will be explained. There is much that I have to prepare, and things are moving quickly. When your moment comes, you will be told what to do. Just be ready for when I call for you."_

_Lily opened her mouth to yell that Oxalion was being incredibly unfair, but she never had the chance. The world gave a mighty lurch, and the beautiful coastline of her dream world dissolved into nothing._

She woke up suddenly, feeling as tired as she had the moment she had closed her eyes. She punched her pillow in frustrating, cursing the dumb snake ghost for being so… so dumb. Her choice of curse words wasn't particularly biting, because her knowledge of such things was quite limited. Cursing didn't make her feel any better, or any less tired, which only made her madder.

Lily resolved to be furious the whole day.

It was still dark outside as she sat up, furiously blowing her long red hair out of her face. It was far too early for her to be awake, but she was far too wound-up to go back to sleep, no matter how tired she was. _Stupid snakes,_ Lily thought with furious fury, _I will never talk to one ever again._

Lily wrapped her blanket around her shoulder, put on her warmest pair of pink socks and opened the door to her room. She was a little hungry, and decided to go downstairs and look for something yummy to eat. Chocolate sounded nice, and it was really the very least she deserved at this point. She opened her door silently, creeping past her parent's room. She didn't think that Daddy or Mum would care what she ate this early in the day, but she was still technically in trouble for sneaking into Hogwarts, and she didn't want to take any chances. Nothing would keep her from her precious chocolate.

Lily tiptoed down the stairs, moving without making any noise. She was really good at being quiet when she wanted to be, something she was very proud of. She was just about to congratulate herself on how clever and sneaky she was when she heard voices coming from the living room and immediately stopped moving. Lily crouched on the bottom step, listening curiously.

"-not sure what Scrimgeour is up to. He seems convinced that they are going to find some dark magic down there, even though that place has clearly been abandoned for decades." Daddy was speaking, sounding very tired. Lily listened curiously, trying to figure out what Daddy was talking about. It sounded important.

"I bet Wood loves having the Ministry poking around his stadium," Lily heard Uncle Ron say. "I hear they tore up the whole pitch."

"They dug up most of it, making a complete mess of the place," Mum said, sounding angry. "It was all a complete waste of time. It didn't look like there was anything in that abandoned laboratory except rubbish, a few old books and some broken artefacts."

"Maybe," Daddy said, sounding uneasy, "but we'll never know for sure. Scrimgeour took custody of most of the stuff they found—everything that the Unspeakables didn't take, that is."

"Unspeakables, what were they doing there?" Uncle Ron asked, sounding very confused. He was nowhere near as confused as Lily was, though. She blinked several times and tried to follow the confusing conversation as best she could.

"Even I don't know how the Department of Mysteries heard about the discovery of the laboratory, because our office certainly didn't tell them," Aunt Hermione said, sounding less than pleased. "They just showed up, and immediately rounded up several of the artefacts before anyone knew what was happening. I wanted to stop them, but they had the proper paperwork from the Minister's office. I can't believe after all the years we've worked at the Ministry, we still know almost nothing about what they do."

"That's fine with me," Daddy said, sounding angry. It made Lily nervous, and she took a step backwards, climbing onto the second step. She hated it when her daddy was angry. "I don't ever want to set foot in the Department of Mysteries again."

Everyone was quiet for a little while, and Lily snuck forward cautious, consumed by curiosity. She peeked around the corner slowly, careful to make sure she wasn't seen. Daddy was pacing back and forth, absent-mindedly rubbing his scar with his right hand. Aunt Hermione was sitting in the chair by the fireplace, staring down at it even though there was no fire burning. Lily's auntie had that serious look on her face that she sometimes got, and Lily knew that she was thinking important, grown-up thoughts. Mum was still in her night clothes, and Lily thought she looked tired as she sat sideways on the couch, legs resting in Uncle Ron's lap. Uncle Ron didn't seem to mind—he had his left hand on his sister's legs and was using his right hand to scratch the back of his head. He looked like he was thinking hard, too, but it didn't look nearly as impressive as it did when Auntie Hermione did it. Uncle Ron turned suddenly in her direction, and Lily quickly darted backwards, out of sight. Lily didn't know if he saw her or not, but he didn't say anything as the conversation continued, so she figured he hadn't seen her. Feeling lucky, Lily leaned forward again to listen closely.

"So you said you had something important to tell us, Hermione, which is why you had to race over here at 4:30 in the morning," Mum said, yawning loudly.

"Hey, I'd like to know that too, since you dragged me out of bed and made me come all the way over here without explaining a thing," Uncle Ron said, yawning just like his sister. The children of Arthur and Molly Weasley were, as a rule, not morning people.

"It's about the laboratory," Aunt Hermione said quietly. "First of all, I did some digging in the Ministry records, and found that it was once owned by a man named Grayson Vance."

"Vance… why does that name sound familiar?" Uncle Ron asked.

"There was an Emmeline Vance in the Order of the Phoenix," Daddy said slowly, sounding sad. "She was in the group that came to Privet Drive to get me the first time I ever went to 12 Grimmauld Place. Voldemort killed her himself."

"She was always so kind to me," Mum said, her voice so quiet that Lily could barely hear her. "The summer that we were with the Order was pretty lonely, and I was on my own a lot. Everyone there was so much older, and no one really had much time for me. Harry didn't show up until August, and you two were far keener on spending time with each other than you were on hanging around with me."

"T-that's not true," protested Aunt Hermione, sounding guilty.

"Actually, it kind of is," Uncle Ron said, sounding not at all guilty.

"Anyways," Mum continued, ignoring the interruptions, "I spent a lot of time with Tonks, Hestia Jones and Emmeline Vance. They taught me all sorts of things that summer, including spells that I never would have learned on my own. Emmeline was actually the one who taught me the Bat-Boogey Hex, Vespertillium. Mum wasn't too happy about that."

"Wow, I never knew that, Ginny," Uncle Ron said.

"What you don't know would make a great book, dear brother," Mum said sweetly. Lily peeked around the corner again, just in time to see Uncle Ron swat Mum's legs with his left hand. In response, Mum kicked her brother hard in the head, who threw up his hands in surrender. Lily smiled, and scurried back out of sight. People loved to talk about how strong her daddy was, but her mum was really the one who never lost a fight—not ever. She was the strongest mummy in the whole wide world.

"So what does this mean?" Daddy asked, ignoring the antics of his wife and his best friend. "Is all this related to the Order somehow?"

"I doubt it," Aunt Hermione said. "The Vance family is one of those very old wizarding families, and mostly intermarried only with other wizards. Emmeline was kind of the exception in her family, much like Sirius was. They were never at the forefront of the pureblood mania of the older families, but most of their family still ended up in-"

"Slytherin," Uncle Ron finished harshly.

"Ron," Aunt Hermione said wearily, "you know as well as anyone that being sorted into Slytherin doesn't make someone evil."

"Of course I know," Uncle Ron replied, "but it's still a pretty good bet. So what about this Grayson bloke? Was he your usual Slytherin prat, or was he actually okay like that Wiggins lad."

"Well, he spent time in Azkaban for illegal experimentation, which seems to indicate yes, but then he went on to teach at Hogwarts, so honestly I'm not entirely sure," Auntie said. "The important thing is that he was a wizard who pushed the limits of legal magic. There's no telling what he was working on down in that laboratory."

There was an uneasy silence. Lily was on edge too, for she did not like the sound of this place they were talking about at all. She wasn't sure what a _labratori_ was, but there was just no way that anyone would ever get her to go near one of those. It was clearly an evil, scary place, and in her mind she pictured that it was a lot like the dark castle that she used to dream about, years and years ago. It was the scariest place she had ever seen, and sometimes she still shuddered in fear when she thought about the half-dead woman who had lived there, and the poor girl who'd been stuck there with her. Lily had never known who that girl was, or why she had been stuck in that horrible place. Hopefully nothing like that had ever happened in this labratori place that Daddy and the others were talking about.

"I thought you said that there was nothing down there," Uncle Ron said, distracting Lily from all the scary things she was thinking about. "Harry, you just said that Scrimgeour didn't find anything."

"I didn't get there until at least an hour after the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, by which time the Department of Mysteries had already come and gone," Daddy said. "They told me that they had founding nothing dangerous down the laboratory. They could have been lying, though."

"I don't think so," Mum said. "I got there pretty early, and Hermione was one of the first people on the scene. Like I said before, there wasn't much down there. The untouchables didn't take anything except a few broken old magic devices."

"Well, we certainly didn't find any important artefacts, but Cassius had our department keep looking far into the night," Aunt Hermione said.

"Git," muttered Uncle Ron.

"Ron, he's still my boss," Aunt Hermione said, sounding exasperated.

"Yeah, and he's still a git."

Aunt Hermione didn't bother to respond to that. Instead, she took a deep breath and said, "That leads me to the real reason I woke you all up so early. I've been trying to figure out what it means, but I'm still not sure. You see, a little after midnight one of our investigators searching down in Vance's laboratory found something."

Everyone was quiet. Lily drummed her fingers on her knee, unable to stand the suspense. What had they found? Was it skeletons? Skeletons were the very scariest thing Lily could think of. She really hoped it wasn't skeletons, because she might scream, and that would give her away.

"There was a metal statue down in the main hallway leading to the laboratory," Aunt Hermione said, "which had a large hole in the middle of it. At first the investigators assumed that the spell that destroyed the statue had been cast around the time that the laboratory was abandoned. Then they found a torn off bit of robe, right at the foot of the statue. It had been torn off of a plain black robe, the kind that the students at Hogwarts wear."

More silence, and Lily clapped her hand over her mouth in shock. She would have bet all the allowance she would ever make for the rest of her life that she knew which Hogwarts student was crazy enough to go into a dark and scary place underground. James was always getting himself in trouble.

"There was a trip to Hogsemede yesterday, wasn't there?" Daddy asked, although it didn't sound as though he actually expected anyone to answer. They all knew there had been.

"Yes, and-" Aunt Hermione started to say, but her husband started talking at nearly the same time, and he was louder.

"So you're saying that at least one Hogwarts student went on the trip to Hogsmede, and went down into that laboratory before the Ministry got there?" Uncle Ron said.

"Yes, and now the Ministry knows it," Daddy said. Lily couldn't be sure, but it certainly sounded as if Daddy thought that was a bad thing.

"There's mo-" Auntie tried to say again, but this time it was Mum who interrupted her.

"I wonder who it was," Mum wondered aloud, sounding unconcerned. "Hopefully they don't get in any trouble."

"Come on, Ginny, you can't be that thick!" Uncle Ron said. "You know how our family works. Whenever something like this happens, you can bet that a Weasley or a Potter was involved somehow. James was in Hogsemede this weekend, and there's almost no way he wasn't involved in-"

"There's more," Hermione interrupted impatiently, refusing to let anyone else cut her off. "As I've been trying to say, the stitching on the piece indicated that the robe had been made by Sophia Malkin, who took over her mother's business less than a year ago when Madame Malkin retired. That, and the fact that the scrap clearly came from a small set of robes, led the investigator to conclude that the robes almost certainly belonged to a first year student, most likely a girl."

"A first-year girl!?" Uncle Ron exclaimed. "But first years aren't allowed to go to Hogsemede. Don't tell me it was-"

"Al has the cloak," Daddy said quietly. "It wouldn't have been that hard for to sneak out of Hogwarts with Rose. After all, how many times did we do it?"

Lily just couldn't believe it. Albus and Rosie would just never do something so, what was that word that her daddy had used the other day… reckless? Albus was quiet and shy, and Rose was as un-recklessy as anyone could be. There was just no way it was them. But then, who else could it be?

Someone started laughing suddenly, and Lily was so surprised that she peeked around the corner again to see who it was. It was Mum who was laughing, as if she found the whole thing hilarious. The others just stared at her, looking at her as though she had gone mad. "My goodness," Mum said, wiping a tear from her eyes. "We are such a bunch of nervous wrecks as parents, aren't we? The second our children go off to Hogwarts, we assume that they're getting themselves in to just as much trouble as we did when we were young."

"Ginny, you know as well as I do…"

"Harry, you're getting worked up over nothing," Mum said firmly. "I spoke to the kids yesterday, when I was at Hogwarts checking on Harry Wiggins. I know for a fact that they were in the castle all day, studying with Harry and some of their other friends. They most certainly were not in Hogsmede. James went on the trip, but it didn't sound like he went anywhere near the stadium. Whoever the student was that went down into that place, you can be sure it wasn't one of our children."

Lily sighed in relief, thankful that her brother and favourite cousin weren't going to be in trouble. Mum sounded completely certain, and Lily didn't think for even a second that her mother might be lying. Daddy let out the breath that he had been nervously holding and said, "That's a relief. You're right of course, we were just jumping to conclusions. Al might have the cloak, but he's not the type of boy to pull something this dangerous for no reason."

"Boy, this parenting thing really does put you on edge," Uncle Ron said, laughing shakily. "I think I ought to write Mum a long, detailed letter apologizing for everything we put her through growing up."

"I think we all owe her one of those," Mum said cheerfully. "Now come on, let's all put this gloomy morning behind us. It sure has been a depressing few months in this country, ever since those Red Tide radicals started carrying out their attacks. I think a big breakfast would go a long way towards cheering everybody up."

"I'll help you make it," Aunt Hermione said. Lily thought her tone a little strange—she sounded almost… upset. Who was upset to make breakfast? It didn't make any sense. Then again, Lily thought, maybe Auntie sounded suspicious, not upset. But why would she be suspicious? It sounded almost as if Aunt Hermione didn't believe Mum… which was ridiculous of course.

"Oh, I think I can manage it on my own," Mum said. "Why don't you just relax? You've had a long day, Hermione."

"Oh no, I'm happy to help," Auntie said firmly. "It will give us a good chance to… talk."

Mum and Aunt Hermione started walking towards where Lily was hiding, and she had to scramble up the stairs and quickly and quietly as she could. She made it upstairs just in time, and sprawled out in the middle of the upstairs hallway, sighing in relief. Her brothers might not have gotten in trouble, but she nearly had. Mum and Daddy didn't like it when Lily and her brothers spied on their important, grown-up conversations. Lily never found them terribly interesting, anyways. Mostly she just ended up feeling confused.

Lily headed back to her room, so that she could pretend that she had been fast asleep when Mum came to wake her up breakfast. She was pretty disappointed that she hadn't gotten any chocolate, but there was nothing she could do about that now. She would just have some later. Lily yawned loudly as she entered her room. She really was pretty tired. Maybe she'd just take a quick nap before Mum woke her up for breakfast.

Lily was about to collapse onto her bed when she spotted it. She didn't scream, but she very nearly did. Coiled up on her pillow, looking as content as could be, was a snake. It was not a very big snake, maybe a little more than a foot and a half long, and Lily wasn't scared of it or anything like that. Snakes weren't so bad, really, but she just preferred them to not be on her bed.

_Hey! _Lily said, switching immediately to parseltongue._ Get off of my bed._

_That isn't very nice, _the snake said, sounding sulky. Lily wasn't sure why, but she thought the snake sounded a bit like a boy who was only a little older than her. Lily felt a little bit bad for yelling at him, so she sat down on the edge of the bed and placed her hand, palm facing up, beside the snake.

_I'm sorry, _Lily said,_ I didn't mean to be rude. I just don't like anyone being on my pillow but me._

_I guess that makes sense, _the snake said, although he sounded a bit dubious. Nonetheless, he slithered off of her pillow on onto her hand, coiling around her arm. It tingled a little, but didn't feel uncomfortable.

_So what are you doing here, little snake? _Lily asked, smiling down at the reptile.

_I have a name you know, _the snake said, still sulking._ It's Shanjavi. And I'm not little. I'm the biggest adder in my litter._

_I'm sure you are, Shanjavi,_ Lily said, giggling. The little snake reminded her a lot of her cousin Hugo, which she would never ever have expected. Shanjavi glared at her, or least she thought that was what he was doing. It was hard to tell, really.

_Whatever, _the snake said, slithering off her and towards the window of her room. _I just came here to introduce myself. The Great One has a task for you, and I am supposed to guide you when the time is right._

_The Great One? _Lily asked. Did he mean Oxalion? If he did, it was the worst nickname of all time. Oxalion was hardly The Great One, he was more like the, um, The Stupid and Annoying One.

_Oxalion the Deathless, _Shanjavi said, sliding up the wall and pausing on the windowsill. _He is the most powerful of all Adders, and was the companion to the greatest of your kind who ever lived. And of all the adders, he picked me for this task. I will return for you soon, when you are needed._

Lily almost laughed at the little snake for being so full of himself (he was SO like Hugo), but she was more focused on something Shanjavi had said. Just before he slithered away, she called, _Hey, wait! Did you say Oxalion was once friends with the greatest wizard who ever lived? Who do you mean? _Lily thought about what she knew of wizard history, and she had a sneaking suspicion she knew who he was talking about. Long ago, there had been a wizard who had been very famous for being able to talk to snakes. But surely Shanjavi wasn't talking about him, was he? He had been a bad man, not the greatest wizard who had ever lived—everyone said so. Lily would be very nervous if it turned out that Oxalion had once been friends with…

_I mean Merlin, of course. Did you not know that he could talk to snakes? _Shanjavi gave her a patronizing look, and disappeared out of sight.

Honestly, no, Lily'd had no idea. She was just relieved it wasn't Salazar Slytherin.

She lay back on her bed, feeling as though her head was too full of things that she had to think about. Now that Shanjavi was gone, she was a little annoyed with herself for not asking the important questions, like what Oxalion wanted her to do and when. Knowing the way snakes liked to be annoying and unhelpful, she doubted she would have gotten an answer anyways. She wanted to think more about everything she had heard, and what it might mean, but she was just too tired. The moment she lay back down on her bed, there had been no hope that she would stay awake. She yawned widely and managed to keep her eyes open for a second or two before falling fast asleep.


	36. Chapter 32

Chapter 32 Still Courtney

Halo had to stay in the hospital wing all of Sunday so that Madame Abbot could _watch him closely_ and make sure he hadn't suffered any lasting damage from his magic drain. The healer was still upset that Hermione and Ginny had questioned him while he was supposed to be resting, and even though Halo felt better by Saturday evening he decided it was probably a good idea not to argue. Madame Abbott was clearly not going to let him leave until she decided he was fully recovered, and since she seemed firmly convinced that he was delicate, he figured he might be here until Christmas. Not having much else to do, Halo slept nearly all of Sunday. It wasn't a bad way to spend the day, all things considered. Destroying a golem really takes it out of you.

He woke up early on Monday morning, having slept for nearly two days straight. As he got ready for the day, he felt just the tiniest bit nervous about what was going to happen in class. He hoped that none of the other students had heard that he had spent all weekend in the infirmary, recovering from trying too hard on homework. If they had, he was going to be a laughingstock. His friends would know the truth, but everyone else would think he was the most pathetic wizard Hogwarts had ever seen. Oh, and he had Charms that afternoon, which was going to be especially horrible. Halo tried his best not to think about it, but he couldn't help it. He could just feel that today was not going to be a good day.

Madame Abbott came out of her office about half an hour before breakfast and announced (very reluctantly it seemed) that he was probably healthy enough to go back to class. Halo was getting ready to go to breakfast when the door to the hospital wing opened and a swarm of people walked in. Rose and Albus came first, followed by Sam, Scorpius, J.B., Kevin, Courtney, Shandra, Annie, and Sora. All the first years in THOMAC, with the exception of Cleo, were there crowding around him, some patting him on the back and others talking excitedly.

"Wha-what are you all doing here?" Halo asked, looking around in surprise.

"Oh, we were just headed down to breakfast, and thought we'd stop by and see how you were doing, since it's on the way and all," Rose said, sounding completely honest and sincere even though she was totally lying. Halo knew that the hospital wing wasn't on anyone's way to the Great Hall. The Slytherins had to come all the way up from the dungeons, the Gryffindors had to come down from their tower, which was on the other side of the school, and Sora had to come from… er, wherever the Hufflepuff common room was. But they had all come anyways, even Courtney and Kevin, neither of whom looked particularly pleased to see him up and about. Whatever, that didn't matter to Halo. He was just so grateful to have friends like that that for a moment he couldn't speak, all he could do was grin like an idiot at all of them.

"You know, breakfast… as is in that thing where you eat food... in the morning," J.B. said slowly, acting as if Halo were suddenly hard of hearing, or just really stupid.

"I believe Harry knows what breakfast is," Sora said calmly.

"You never know," J.B. said darkly. "I heard that sometimes people who suffer from magic drain lose all of their memories, and they spend the rest of their life wandering around aimlessly, trying desperately to remember who they are."

"Really?" Annie asked, eyes widening in fear. "That's terrible!"

"And untrue," Shandra said, putting her arm around her best friend and frowning at J.B., who just grinned and shrugged.

"Don't listen to this idiot, Annie." Shandra said, because Annie was still looking at Halo as if something horrible was going to happen to him at any second. "Halo is perfectly fine, aren't you Halo?"

Halo was caught a little off guard, and for a second or so he couldn't form any words. That happened sometimes when Shandra was around, though he wasn't really sure why. And he was a little surprised that she had called him Halo. He didn't mind, of course, but she had just never called him that before. Most people still called him Harry. Maybe it meant that they were becoming better friends, and Halo certainly wouldn't mind that.

"F-fine, I'm fine, I promise," Halo said after a noticeable pause. J.B. seized the opportunity and immediately began shuffling around the hospital wing like a zombie from one of those bad muggle movies, imitating what Halo would be reduced to without his memories. Halo thought it was kind of funny, and he wouldn't have minded at all if it weren't for the horrified look that Annie was giving him.

"Oi, enough already, idiot," Sam said, moving forward and grabbing J.B. by the hair, dragging him towards the door. "Stop scaring little girls and let's go eat." Sam's spikey hair was still blue, thanks to Halo accidental transfiguration, and it made her look even more intimidating than before. Annie looked even more upset that Sam had called her a little girl, even though they were the same age, and Rose and Shandra glared at Sam as she left, dragging a protesting J.B. with her. Halo sighed quietly and followed them, wishing that everyone could just get along.

As soon as their group had left the hospital wing, Cassy, Heather, Charlie and Tommy came around the corner. Cassy smiled when she saw her brother, and came forward to give him a big hug. "There you are," Cassy said, ruffling his hair affectionately. "We were just coming by to check on you."

"Wow, thanks everyone," Halo said, meaning it whole-heartedly. He never would have thought that so many people were so concerned about him. It was a great feeling.

"Hey, no worries, mate," Charlie said, grinning at him. "You really saved our necks back there. That was some of the coolest magic I've ever seen."

Halo wished he knew the spell that could record what someone said, so that he could save it and play it back whenever he wanted. Then if someone made fun of him he could play it back and say, _See, I'm not a loser who fainted doing homework, I've done some of the coolest magic Charlie's ever seen. So take that!_ Sadly, if such a spell existed, Halo didn't know it.

Their group started moving again, chatting merrily as they moved in the direction of the Great Hall. Halo found himself next to Tommy, who looked a little different than he had before. It took Halo a second or two to figure out why.

"Hey, I didn't know you had glasses, Tommy."

"Well, I don't like them," Tommy replied, "so I take them off unless I absolutely have to wear them, like for class. Sadly, the Kincaide family is not blessed with very good eyes."

"I keep saying, you look cuter with them on," Heather said, poking Tommy in the nose. Tommy smiled and swatted her finger away while Heather just laughed. Neither of them saw the brief glare that Charlie gave them, but Halo did. He would have thought more about it if he weren't distracted by something else that he saw out of the corner of his eye. Courtney had stopped walking suddenly, and was looking at Tommy in disbelief.

"Courtney? You okay?" Halo asked, half-wishing he wasn't speaking. Of all the people at this school, he probably liked Courtney the least. Sure, she'd started helping out a little bit, but she was… still Courtney. He shouldn't care whether something was bothering her or not, but for some reason, even after everything she'd said and done, he did.

"Courtney?" Tommy asked, repeating the name slowly and looking around. His eyes found her, and Halo saw his jaw tighten. Courtney didn't say a thing as she abruptly turned and fled, running down the hallway in the other direction.

"Hey, wait, wher-"Halo called after her, but she didn't stop. The others all exchanged confused looks, wondering what was going on. Many of them looked expectantly at Tommy, but he didn't look like he was in the mood to talk about it at all.

"Someone should go make sure she's alright," Cassy said, looking back down the corridor. Halo agreed, and he and the other Slytherins looked expectantly at Kevin, who was closest to her.

"What?" demanded Kevin, crossing his large arms stubbornly over his chest. "I'm not running after her. It's not as if I care about her stupid girl problems."

Halo sighed, but he wasn't terribly surprised. Kevin was just a git, it was as simple as that. He was surprised, however, when everyone turned and looked expectantly at him.

"W-what?" Halo asked. What did they expect him to do? It was _Courtney_.

"You're really good at this kind of stuff," Scorpius said quietly. "You can always make people feel better when they're sad."

"I-er thanks, Scorpius, but-"

"Look, I'm not dealing with her, Simba, so you better go do it," Sam said.

"You know, you're really a jerk, Crabbe," Rose said, putting her hands on her hips and glaring furiously at Sam.

"No one asked you, ginger," Sam said, drawing herself up to her full height. She was several inches taller than Rose, but the shorter girl didn't seem at all intimidated. Her hand hovered an inch or so above her wand, and it seemed like she was itching to draw it. Halo was slightly alarmed. He'd seen Rose mad before, and he knew that she wasn't likely to back down. Of course, neither was Sam.

"Look, I'll go check on Courtney," Halo said to break the tension. "You lot go on ahead, and please try not to curse each other. We're all on the same side."

"Fine," Rose said loftily, brushing past Sam without another word, followed closely by Albus, who looked far more intimidated by Sam than Rose did. Cassy gave her brother a questioning look, but he nodded to indicate that he was fine. He turned away from the others and went to go find Courtney—which was not something he had ever expected to do.

Halo found her sitting on a windowsill on the far side of the hallway, miserably looking out across the grounds of the castle towards Hogsmede. It was one of those enormous windows in the castle with a deep windowsill that was large enough that Halo could have laid down comfortably if he curled up in a ball. Courtney looked as though she'd been crying, and Halo immediately went over to sit beside her without a second thought. He hated it whenever someone was sad or upset, even if that someone had been mean and rude to him since the moment they'd met. Courtney didn't turn to look at him, and for a minute or so they just sat there in silence, looking out the window. Halo wanted to say something that would cheer her up somehow, but he wasn't sure what to say. He didn't actually know Courtney that well, and he really didn't like her at all. It sure was hard to find a way to cheer someone up when you half-wanted them to stay sad and miserable. Halo shook his head to clear it, burying those thoughts firmly in the back of his mind. Courtney needed someone to be there for her, and apparently that someone had to be Halo, since no one else wanted to do it. And in any case, they could always go back to hating each other later, after Courtney was feeling better and things got back to normal.

"Are you here to laugh at me?" Courtney asked at last, rubbing the tears away from her red eyes with her palms. She sounded, quite frankly, rather pitiful.

"Why would I laugh at you?" Halo asked gently, his heart flooding with sympathy. She sounded so miserable, and if it were anyone else he would have put his hand on her shoulder or given her a hug. But it wasn't anyone else, it was Courtney, and he knew she would not appreciate being hugged.

"I would," Courtney said, hiccupping loudly, "I would laugh if it was you sitting here all alone, crying your eyes out." Halo didn't have a response to that. It was true, of course, they both knew it. Halo found that it didn't really matter to him though. He still wanted to help her, no matter what she would have done if the roles were reversed. After all, he was aiming to be a slightly better person than Courtney Stubbs.

"Why don't you tell me what's wrong," Halo said, putting his hand on her shoulder. Sure enough, she shrugged it off, as if she didn't like being touched by a half-breed like him, as she liked to call him. Normally it would have made him angry, since he hated it when Courtney, Kevin, or any of the older Slytherins started with their nonsense about pureblood status, but he recognized that she was just lashing out, trying to get him to go away so she wouldn't have to talk to him. Halo was actually impressed that he could read her motives so well—almost as if he were a grownup. But then, maybe it wasn't so surprising. He had grown up quite a bit in the last few weeks.

After all, he'd blown up a golem.

"Tell me what's wrong," Halo repeated, quiet but firm. Courtney turned and glared at him for a minute with her beady little brown eye, but Halo held her gaze, refusing to look away. At last she realized that he wouldn't leave her alone, and started talking.

"I should have been prepared for it. I mean, I knew he was here at Hogwarts somewhere, but I- I just wasn't ready to see him standing there."

"You mean Tommy?" Halo asked. "How do you know him?"

"I don't," Courtney said, eyes turned back towards the window and fixed on the horizon.

"What? I don't get it. If you don't know him, then who is he?"

"He's my brother."

Halo could have said, _What? I don't get it again,_ but there didn't seem much point. Instead he just remained quiet, waiting for Courtney to explain.

"Well, he's my half-brother really. We have the same mother. You see, before my mother married my father she… she married someone else. Right after she finished Hogwarts, my mother married a boy from school, a half-blood Ravenclaw named Duncan Kincaide. They stayed together for a little over two years before my mother decided to leave him and return to her parents' house. I don't really know what happened; my mother refuses to ever talk about it. All she would tell me is that it was a rebellious phase that she grew out of, and that she had gotten rid of everything that reminded her of that time. There was just one thing that she couldn't get rid of."

"Tommy," Halo guessed.

"Tommy," confirmed Courtney. "I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty sure that she left Duncan just after Tommy was born. After all, he's only two years older than me, and she couldn't have stayed with him for long. My mother remarried quickly, about six months after she returned home she married my father, James Stubbs, and a year after that she was pregnant with me." Halo listened closely, but he didn't quite understand. He knew that women got pregnant and had babies, but he wasn't quite sure how it worked. Courtney seemed to understand what she was talking about though, and he took her word for it that it was unusual for a woman to have two babies by two separate husbands in two years.

"And you said you've never met him before?" Halo asked.

"Never. I didn't even know that I had an older half-brother until about three years ago, when I overheard my parents talking about it. I tried to ask my mother about it, but she refused to say anything more than what I already told you. Whenever I tried asking she would get angry, and it's very bad when my mother is angry."

Halo could picture it now, a grumpy older woman who resembled Courtney snapping at her daughter to stop asking stupid questions and get back to studying her books on wizarding genealogy. Halo had never considered before what he would have done if his own mother had been a mean, evil woman who would be willing to abandon her own child just because the boy's father wasn't pure-blooded enough for her liking. It could be that he might have turned out to be as bad as Courtney, or maybe even worse.

"I don't even know why I'm crying," Courtney muttered, rubbing her eyes furiously again. "I always figured that my brother would hate me. After all, how could he not? I was the daughter of someone who had abandoned him. His own mother had chosen to raise me and my brothers, but not him. Of course he would hate me after that, I would too."

"I don't think Tommy hates you," Halo said, but he wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not. Tommy sure hadn't looked particularly pleased to see Courtney. Still, Halo knew Tommy a little bit, and he didn't think that one of Cassy's closest friends actually hating his own sister just because his mother was a horrible person.

"Oh, what do you know," Courtney snapped, stubbornly refusing to be cheered up. She stood up and rubbed her eyes again, saying, "Come on, we have to get to Potions or we'll be late." She stalked off, and Halo was too annoyed to walk with her. Just before she turned the corner, though, Courtney stopped and turned to look at him with an expression on her face that he'd never seen before.

"You came after me," Courtney said quietly, "even though we aren't really…" she didn't finish her thought, and Halo was glad she didn't. They weren't anything that even remotely resembling friends, and they both knew it. "T-thank you, H-Halo." With that she disappeared around the corner, leaving him feeling rather surprised. Courtney Stubbs had actually expressed gratitude… to him! And she had called him Halo for the first time, just like Shandra. He wasn't nearly as excited as he'd been when she'd done it, but maybe it was a sign of progress. Maybe he and Courtney could actually be friends one day. Halo considered this as he made his way down towards the dungeons. Nah, probably not, he decided as he walked into Potions class ten minutes later. That wasn't going to happen. After all, she was still Courtney.

And so the day before Halloween started on a strangely positive note, but it ended up going every bit as badly from there on out as Halo had feared. It seemed as though James had spread the false story of what had happened to Halo throughout the Gryffindor common room, and everyone seemed to think that he'd spent the weekend in the infirmary after passing out doing homework. To many of the first-year Gryffindors, it was like Christmas had come early. Many of them didn't much like Halo, every bit as jealous as the other first years were about how good he was at transfiguration. After all, Sam's blue hair served as a walking testament to how good he was, so there was just no avoiding it. Danny Corlin, Oscar Vane, Amanda Kirke and Peter Monroe spent most of Potions making fun of him, speaking quietly so that Professor Evergreen wouldn't hear them. Rose glared at them viciously and Albus told them to bugger off, but their fellow Gryffindors gleefully ignored them and kept at it, promising Halo that they would carry him up to the hospital wing if he passed out stirring his potion. Halo was touched that Rose and Albus would stand up for him, even to members of their own house, but it didn't really make him feel much better. He was pretty miserable as left the class, skipping lunch so that he could start his homework early.

He joined Cleo in the library, who had said nothing to him all day, but that was hardly unusual. She looked at him briefly and gave him a little half-smile and a gentle pat on the arm before disappearing behind her book. It was hardly anything at all, but it made Halo feel loads better. Cleo always seemed to be able to calm him down, which, ironically, was what he was supposed to be doing for her.

After lunch was Herbology, which, if anything, was worse than Potions had been. Headmistress Sprout was still teaching their class in place of Professor Longbottom, and she immediately asked if he was feeling all right with a look of grandmotherly concern on her face. He muttered that he was fine and spent most of the class dodging the looks of the Hufflepuffs, most of whom seemed to be watching to see if he would spontaneously faint. A few, particularly Valerie Parsons, Otto McLaggen and Curtis Nash, seemed to be genuinely disappointed that he didn't.

Charms promised to be truly terrible, since at the start of class Professor Dimock drew him aside and, with her voice full of concern, told him not to push himself too hard. Halo wanted to shout as loudly as he could that he was not about to faint doing classwork, but he forced himself to remain quiet and nod. After all, what was he going to say, the truth? That wasn't an option, so he had to content himself with the nasty things he was going to say to Rosie when he saw her after class that afternoon. All of this was her fault anyways, her and her stupid lie. She should have come up with something better.

Mercifully his pain ended after only five minutes or so, because a tall boy with long red hair who Halo didn't recognize walked into the classroom. He looked about the same age as Halo, even though he was taller, but Halo figured he had to be a second year. Halo was pretty sure he knew what all his fellow first years looked like by now, and this boy definitely wasn't one of them.

"Yes, Louis?" Professor Dimock asked, looking over at boy.

"I am here to get Wiggins," the boy said, nodding his chin in Halo's direction. "He has a meeting."

That was rather vague, but Professor Dimock just nodded, as if she had been expecting as much. Halo blinked in surprised, but follow the boy out of the classroom. No one had told _him_ that he had a meeting. What is going on?

"My name is Louis, by the way," the boy said, grinning at Halo. His teeth were perfectly straight and very white. "Louis Weasley."

Halo was not terribly surprised. There were so many Weasleys, and most of them had red hair, so whenever he saw a red-head that he didn't know he more or less assumed they were related to Rose and Albus somehow. He was generally right.

"Harry Wiggins," Halo said, introducing himself politely.

"I know," Louis replied, studying Halo closely as they kept walking. "I've heard a lot about you. Rosie talks about you all the time."

"Really?" Halo asked, a little surprised. He knew Rose liked to talk a lot, and she was basically his best friend, but it was still surprising to hear that she talked about him all the time when he wasn't around. He would have thought she'd have better things to talk about.

"Really," Louis confirmed, grinning at Halo. "You sound like a pretty interesting kid. I thought your name was Halo, though."

"Oh, that's just my nickname," Halo said, "You can call me that if you want."

"Brilliant," Louis said as they stopped in front of the door to the faculty lounge. "Well, here you are, Halo. I was a little surprised when Maman showed up and asked me to go find you, but I'm not one to argue. It's usually best to just do what she says, if you know what I mean."

Halo didn't—in fact he didn't know what the boy was talking about at all. Louis didn't seem to feel like explaining, though, and he just gave a cheery wave and walked off in the other direction whistling cheerfully. Without really knowing what was going on, Halo knocked on the door.


	37. Chapter 33

Chapter 33 Resonance

"Come in," A woman called from the other side with a hint of an accent that Halo couldn't identify. Halo opened the door and entered the room, not knowing what to expect. What he did not expect, or rather could not have expected, was the woman who was there waiting for him.

She was a woman of about forty, but she did not look it. She had an ageless elegance and grace that made her look younger, and when Halo first saw her he was pretty sure she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She smiled at him, and he just stood there dumbstruck. He wasn't entirely sure who this woman was, or why she had come to meet him, so he just stood there like an idiot and looked confused.

"Welcome, young Harry, come in," she said kindly gesturing to the chair opposite her. "My sister-in-law asked me to come see you. She mentioned that your wand was doing some, how do you say,_ unexpected_ thing."

Finally, Halo remembered the conversation with Ginny, and realized that this woman must be Fleur Weasley. Victoire was one thing, but her mother was on a whole other level of beauty. Still, he was a little too young to truly be affected by such things, and he just shook his head to clear it and sat down in the chair that Mrs. Weasley indicated.

"You may call me Madame Fleur," Fleur commanded, her voice tinged with a slight but noticeable French accent. She didn't say it rudely, but there was no mistaking that it was a command, and Halo was meant to obey. Halo found Fleur slightly intimidating, or at the very least not someone he wanted to disappoint. "Now show me your wand, if you please," Madame Fleur said, and Halo immediately pulled out his wand as quickly as he could and placed it on the table between them.

Madame Fleur studied it for a few moments, before saying, "Tell me everything that this wand has been doing."

Halo did as he was told as best he could. He told her about the trip to Hogsmede and exploring the abandoned laboratory below the town, but said nothing of the dream that Lily'd had. He didn't feel that it was right to reveal her involvement in all of this to her aunt without asking her permission first, which obviously he had no way of doing. It was hard to tell her about everything that had been happening without revealing why he had decided it was a necessary to sneak out of Hogwarts in violation of a thousand or so school rules. Madame Fleur listened intently, examining his wand as he spoke. She made no comment on his reckless behaviour, which he was grateful for. When he was done, she set his twisted wand down and said, "Sycomore wood and Sphinx teeth, an ancient and powerful combination. It is said that the very first wizards made wands out of Sphinx teeth, and used them to raise the great pyramids."

"Really?" Halo asked, amazed.

"I could not say," Madame Fleur said with a smile, "that is simply a story my grandpapa used to tell me. He knew as much about wands as any man alive. He was the one that fashioned this wand for me, from my grandmaman's hair." Madame Fleur drew out her own wand, showing it to him. It looked normal enough.

"Your wand has your grandmother's hair in it?" Halo asked surprised. He had never heard of such a thing.

"Yes, but my case is unusual. My grandmaman was a Veela, an ancient race of women that live throughout Eastern Europe. She therefore served as the magical core of my wand, something that is an important part of my connection to my wand."

"You have a connection to your wand?" Halo asked. Did that mean that she talked to it sometimes, like he did? He'd thought he was crazy for doing it, but if Madame Fleur did it too...

"We all have a connection with our wands. A wand is a living thing, to a degree. This is widely known, although the precise manner in which it is alive is very much up to debate between wandmakers. One must have a connection with their wand in order for it to work properly for them. There are a number of things that determine a wizard's connection to their wand, one of the strongest being ownership. For example, this wand is mine, and will continue to be mine unless someone, you for example, defeats me and claims it. If that were to happen, you would be rightful owner of this wand. Do you understand so far?"

Halo nodded to show that he did. He had never seen a wizard fight, except in Mr. Potter's memory, but it wasn't a hard concept to understand.

"Ownership of the wand is universally accepted as being the strongest connection that one can have to a wand, but I am not so sure that it is. You see, from my earliest days of using magic, I noticed that there was something different about my wand. I was too young and inexperienced to realize it at first, and I was convinced that I was simply more skilled than anyone else. I admit, I was an extremely arrogant child, and it wasn't until I first came to this castle that I first began to realize that my abilities were not as amazing as I had always assumed."

"You came here?" Halo asked.

"Only for a year. When I was seventeen, I represented my school, Beauxbatons Academy, in the Triwizard Tournament on the eve of the Second Wizard War. I was sure that I was the strongest witch of my generation, since no one at Beauxbatons could match me, and I assumed that I would win the tournament with no difficulty. However, I did not account for a thin little boy of fourteen with glasses and a lightning scar on his forehead."

"Harry Potter!" Halo said excitedly, just like he always did whenever his idol was mentioned. He had only vaguely heard of this Triwizard Tournament thing she was talking about, but he wasn't surprised that Harry Potter had won it. Of course he had.

"The first task of the Tournament was the first time I really started to realize that my wand was special. Each of us had to get past a dragon and collect a golden egg that the beast was guarding. My headmistress told me what to expect before the day of the task, but I refused her attempts to help me plan, arrogantly convinced that I knew what to do. I had never met anything or anyone that I couldn't enchant or distract with my mind altering charms before, so I attempted to hypnotize the dragon. It worked, more or less, and I was able to retrieve my egg without too much difficulty. Afterwards, my headmistress pulled me aside, looking very stern. She said that it was very lucky that I hadn't been killed, and that I had to be much more careful in the future. I didn't understand at first, until she told me that dragons were all but immune to mind-altering magic, and that it was a miracle my spell had worked at all. Madame Maxine said that there must have been something wrong with the dragon, and that is why my spell worked. I was not so sure though. It took me many years to figure out the truth, but I believe I know why I was able to charm the dragon that day, and why your wand has been trying to communicate with you. I call it Resonance."

"Resonance?" Halo asked. He wondered if it was a French word, or simply one that he had never heard before. Actually, it was both.

"Resonance is the amplification of certain forces by external factors. I know you are young, so I will explain it as simply as I can. It is when something is made stronger by the presence of something else. In this case, that something is magic, and it is being strengthened by a special connection to the wand's core."

"Special connection?" Halo asked looking at his wand.

"Yes, in my case it was my grandmaman's hair. Because I had a connection not just to the wand, but also to the being that had provided its core, it greatly increased my magical power whenever I used certain types of magic. Veela are known to be able to control and mislead men at will, and whenever I used my wand to mislead or control people's thoughts, those spells were extremely powerful. There was even a time, during the war, when my wand acted on its own. My husband and I were being chased by Death Eaters through the air. My husband and I tried to battle them off, but there were just too many. One of the Death Eaters aimed a curse at me, and neither of us had time to react to it. But in that instant, my wand moved on its own, and the Death Eater mistakenly fired the curse at one of his allies instead of me. My wand saved me that day, all on its own."

"Wow," was all Halo could think to say.

"I thought I imagined it at first, until my brother-in-law Harry told the story of what happened to him on the very same night. During the same battle, he was pursued by Voldemort and he found himself unable to escape. Just as Voldemort went in for the kill, Harry's wand moved on its own, releasing a powerful defensive spell that bought him enough time to escape. Harry was adamant that his wand had cast the spell on its own. At first even I didn't believe him, because I still didn't believe what my own wand had done, but as I thought about it more and more I realized that our wands must have been connected by a similar phenomenon. That phenomenon is what I call Resonance."

"But what does that have to do with my wand?" Halo asked, slightly confused. "It hasn't saved my life or cast any kind of magic like that. I mean, it did help guide me to that book and showed me how to cast the spell I needed when I destroyed the golem, it didn't cast any magic on its own."

"You do not fully understand how it works," Madame Fleur said patiently. "When my wand acted on its own, it was to mislead and confuse the Death Eater who was attacking me. When Harry's wand acted on its own, it was to cast a powerful defensive spell to protect him. That is because the core of his wand is a phoenix feather, and phoenixes are known for their extremely powerful protective capabilities. But the core of Harry's wand wasn't just from any phoenix, it was from Headmaster Dumbledore's phoenix, a bird named Fawkes, who Harry had met several times and who had saved his life. He had a strong connection not just to his wand, but also to the being that had provided the core, just like I had. His wand acted on its own to protect him the way that Fawkes the phoenix would have, just like my wand protected me the way my grandmaman would have. And your wand has been guiding you to answers and teaching you, just as a sphinx would have. They are guardians of knowledge and secrets, so it is only natural that when your wand chose to act, it would be to reveal knowledge to you."

Halo considered this, and found that it actually made a lot of sense. It really did seem like his wand had been trying to teach him and show him things. Still, there was one problem that he couldn't figure out. "But I don't have any special connection to any sphinxes. I've never even met a sphinx."

"That I cannot explain," Madame Fleur said, frowning as she considered the possibilities. "I think that perhaps your case is unique. You see, sphinxes are famous for their ability to see into the future. Since you are still so young, I would guess that you do indeed have a unique connection to a particular sphinx, you just don't have it _yet_."

It was Halo's turn to frown. He wasn't sure if that made any sense or not. There was, of course, no way to prove that it wasn't true, since he had no idea what might happen in the future. Still, why his wand responded to him in a special way because of a connection that he hadn't even formed yet? That sounded way too strange.

"Now that you know of your wand's capabilities, I would urge you to be careful, Harry," Madame Fleur said, picking up Halo's wand again and examining it closely. "Your wand is indeed powerful, but that power comes at a cost. No matter how strong you are, you are not invincible. For someone who has resonance with their wand, magic drain is a far more serious problem then it is for the average witch or wizard. For most children, the amount of magic that they can use is far lower than the amount of power that their body can handle, so magic drain is irrelevant. Our wands can channel far more magic than normal at a young age, and sometimes it can overwhelm us. I overdid it several times during my first two years at Beauxbatons, and people thought that I was weak." Madame Fleur's eyes flashed in anger, and Halo could tell that it still bothered her. He could relate, but it didn't make him feel any better. Was she trying to tell him that he would just have to get used to passing out when he used to much magic?

"I bet Harry Potter never passed out from using too much magic," Halo said moodily, glaring down at his wand in annoyance. He didn't even know the stupid sphinx that was causing all of this to happen to him.

"Actually he did," Madame Fleur said with a smile, as if she understood how much it would mean for him to hear that. "At the end of his first year, he almost died when too much magic surged through him. He told me about it much later. He willingly activated the ancient protection that his mother had placed on him when she died to save him and used the power to defeat Voldemort, who was possessing the body of a Hogwarts Professor. And that night that Harry battled Voldemort and his wand saved his life, the wand used up so much magic that Harry again lost consciousness. He didn't know what it was at the time in either case because he was raised by muggles and didn't even learn about magic drain until after he had left school, but he recognized the symptoms later and mentioned them to me when we discussed my theory. Resonance is extremely taxing on your body, and you have nothing to be ashamed of."

Halo smiled at her and nodded. He didn't feel bad anymore, not now that knew that his hero had gone through the same things he had. If Harry Potter could deal with it, then so could he. Halo reached out to take his wand back, but Madame Fleur kept her hand on it and frowned at him sternly.

"Harry, I have said nothing because my dear sister-in-law asked me to come and help you, but I feel I must warn you not to be so reckless in the future. I don't know why you are doing such foolish things, all I know is that Ginny trusts you, and that is enough for me. When I first met her, I thought she was simply a foolish little girl, but she is nothing of the sort, and I long ago learned to trust her judgement. Be that as it may, I urge you to stop this foolishness. Your parents would be worried sick if they knew what you were up to."

Halo felt a surge of guilt that he had been repressing for weeks. He had told his parents nothing about what was happening. In fact, he hadn't even sent them a letter in quite a long time. He had only written a few words at the end of Cassy's letters, assuring them that he was doing well. Part of that had to do with his dislike (but not fear, definitely not fear) of owls, but mostly he was just feeling guilty. He didn't want to lie to his parents, so it was easier just to say nothing at all. Still, he knew that made him a terrible son.

Halo nodded and took his wand back, although he remained silent. He couldn't make the promise to stop acting recklessly, because he wasn't going to stop. Their task was far from over, and there was no way he was going to stop now. Too much depended on it. He thanked Madame Fleur profusely and left the room. He had a lot to think about.

Classes were over for the day by the time he left, and Halo wandered around the castle for a while, thinking about everything that was going on. He had been at Hogwarts for just under two months, and already his life was completely mad. He didn't have the Trace on him, which meant that he could use more magic that he ought to be able to use at his age. Then he had been sorted into Slytherin, despite the fact that it made so sense whatsoever to be in that house. It wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be, but it still made no sense to him. And now he apparently had a special connection with a sphinx that he hadn't met yet, which meant that his wand could act on its own. Oh, and then he had received an urgent message from a nine-year-old who could both see the future and talk to snakes, telling him that the world was going to end unless they could stop it. Then there was Cleo, the girl who had been tortured by her own mother and forced into developing powers that no one quite understood and that she couldn't quite control. He figured that no one could possibly have had a stranger first year at Hogwarts. Of course, if he'd known the details of Remus Lupin's or Ginny Weasley's first years he would have known that was not the case, but he didn't. Instead he continued to wander the castle, convinced that he was the oddest student that Hogwarts had ever seen with the certainty of an eleven-year-old boy who didn't know any better.

At last he returned to the Slytherin common room, feeling incredibly guilty and determined to write a letter to his parents. He wasn't mentally prepared to go up to the owlery to deliver it, but he figured that he could just convince someone else to do it. Cassy might be willing, or maybe he could make Courtney go do it. After all, she owed him.

After he gave the portrait of Professor Slughorn the password and the portrait reluctantly swung open, complaining about having to work so hard, Halo entered the common room. It was pretty empty, since it was still early in the afternoon. Atalanta was sitting by the fire, reading a book for class. When she saw at him, she slammed the book shut and stormed out of the common room without a word. Halo had been wondering if she was still mad at him for nearly killing himself fighting the golem. That was clearly a yes. That was not going to end well for him. Halo sighed and climbed the staircase that led to the room he shared with Cleo.

Cleo wasn't there, which was hardly a surprise. She was probably in the library, just like always. Halo sat down on his bed instead of sitting at the desk and started writing a letter to his parents. An hour later he had written a sentence, maybe two, and had five drafts crumpled up at the foot of his bed. He wasn't sure why it was so hard to talk to his parents, but it was. He just had no idea what to say to them. He couldn't tell them the truth, and he didn't want to lie.

An hour after Halo got back the door opened and Cleo tiptoed in. She had two sandwiches in her hand, which was a little odd. Halo stared at her in confusion as she walked over to him and sat at the foot of his bed, carefully avoiding sitting on his crumpled up letters, as if concerned that they might be important. Without looking at him, she held out both sandwiches to him and said, "Eat."

Halo opened his mouth to say that he wasn't hungry, but as soon as he thought about it he realized that wasn't the case. To his slight surprise, he actually was pretty hungry, he just hadn't been thinking about it. He hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch and had been about to skip dinner, which was definitely not a good thing. Sometimes he just forgot to eat.

He took the sandwiches obediently and devoured them quickly, wondering how Cleo had known. Before he could ask, though, Cleo spoke up, which was something she had been doing more and more in recent weeks. It still didn't happen much, but she was positively chatty compared to what she'd been when Halo first met her.

"Atalanta told me to make sure you ate something," Cleo said, looking at him for a few seconds before dropped her eyes like she always did. "She also told me say that she warned you that if you didn't stop acting like an idiot she was going to curse the stupid out of you. She said to be prepared to spend the rest of your life as a hamster. I think she might have been kidding."

Halo thought she probably was, but he still felt a nervous shiver run through his body. When it came to Atalanta, it was best not to take threats to rightly.

"You'll still be friends with me if I'm a hamster, won't you?" Halo asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Of course," Cleo said quietly, "I'll feed you and get a little wheel for you to run on and everything." She gave Halo a faint smile that he was almost too surprised to return. Cleo had just made another joke—her second one ever. And she actually had a pretty good sense of humour. Who would have guessed?

Cleo dropped her eyes again and her smile faded as she unconsciously rubbed her shoulder, which Halo knew was covered with scars and burns that her mother had given her. He felt hatred surge through him for the woman who had taken this normal innocent girl and done her best to break her apart. The only thing that Halo could think was how glad he was that she hadn't quite succeeded.

"What are you doing?" Cleo asked, nudging the crumpled up papers with her foot.

"I'm trying to write a letter to my parents," Halo said, sighing loudly, "but it's not working. I don't know what to say to them. I can't tell them about anything that's been happening, or they would go out of their minds with worry."

Cleo didn't say anything for a while, and Halo was pretty sure she'd decided she was done talking for the day. That happened all the time, often quite abruptly. She wasn't quite done, though, and about five minutes later she suddenly said, "If it were me, I would just tell them about the boring, silly stuff I did every day. It wouldn't even matter what I said, it would just be nice to feel like I was talking to them."

Halo put his quill down and stared at her. He cursed himself and felt like such an idiot, talking about how hard it was to talk to his parents in front of her. At least he had his parents, unlike her. She had never even met her father, who had died serving Voldemort and her mother… it would have been better if she'd never met her mother either. Cleo's had never had any real parents, and she probably would have wanted to send a letter to someone who loved her. Cleo hid her sadness well, but Halo knew her well enough to see the way she was clenching her fist more tightly than normal. How could he have been so stupid?

"I know, I'll write about you," Halo said, picking his quill back up. His parents had never met Cleo, and he had barely mentioned her at all. That didn't seem right.

Cleo frowned at him, looking very sceptical. "I don't think they'll want to hear about me," she said quietly, retreating into her shell like she always did.

"Don't be silly," Halo said firmly. "Here, help me write it."

So the two of them worked into the evening, telling to his parents all about Cleo and being in Slytherin and how their classes were going. By the end of it Cleo was smiling—like a real smile that didn't fade after a few seconds, and Halo was smiling too. Cleo went off to deliver it to the owlery while Halo stayed behind. It wasn't because he was afraid to go with her, of course, he was, er, just too tired. That was it.

Cleo came back before too long, but her smile was long gone. She had that dead look in her eyes, and Halo could tell that someone had said something terrible to her in the hallway. Halo cursed himself again, wishing he'd gone with her. He wanted to say something to cheer her up, but Cleo just shook her head, which probably meant that she didn't want to talk, and sat down on the edge of his bed, looking miserable.

"Cleo, don't let them-" Halo tried to say, but she cut him off. Clearly, she did not want to talk about it.

"I'm tired," she announced, lying down on his bed and curling up next to him. "I'm going to sleep." She didn't say it, but Halo knew that she wanted him to stay by her. He could feel her shaking next to him, and he knew that if he left her alone she would have nightmares, and she might even lose control again. He couldn't let that happen, not because of something that some stupid student said to her, and so he just lay down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder.

"It'll be all right, Cleo," Halo said, having no idea what else to say.

"Don't lie, Halo," she said quietly, "You know that's not true. Not for me."

Neither of them said any more, and after about half an hour Halo heard Cleo's breathing become steady. She had clearly fallen asleep, but Halo stayed up for a long, long time, trying to figure out what to do to help Cleo. He couldn't think of anything, but as he lay there in the darkness feeling Cleo shake in her sleep Halo promised he'd find a way to do something to help her. Not matter what, he'd be on her side. It was the least he could do to pay her back for all the times she'd helped him. Halo eventually fell asleep, but it took a very long time.

The night wore on, but Cleo didn't stop shaking—not even for five minutes.


	38. Chapter 34

Chapter 34 The Orphan

Halo woke up early the next morning in pain. He'd been in pain quite a lot recently, so maybe he ought to be used to it, but he wasn't. He nearly cried out as he sat up, clutching his right arm, which was red as if it had been badly sunburned. The sun hadn't burned his arm though, Cleo had.

He had fallen asleep with his right arm around her, trying to reassure her that everything was alright. She must have had a nightmare while she slept and burned him accidentally, just like she had before. Even though his arm was hurting terribly, Halo wasn't angry... at least not with Cleo. Whatever had been said to her last night must have really rattled her for her to lose control like that, and it was the person who'd said those awful things was really the one to blame. He got out of his bed as quietly as he could, trying not to wake her. She stirred fitfully in her sleep, but thankfully she slept on. Halo didn't want her to see what had happened, because he knew how much it would upset her to see what she'd done without meaning to. It had just been an accident.

Halo slipped out of the room quietly, pulling on his robes to hide his arm. The common room looked deserted, and he quickly went over to sit in his favourite chair that sat on a little section of the common room floor that extended out into the lake. He and Cleo nearly always sat there whenever they were in the common room doing their homework together. One of the reasons was because of how amazing it felt to have water on all around him, just barely held back by magic. The other reason, which was really the more important one, was to avoid the looks that the other students gave Cleo whenever she was around. Even the Slytherins sometimes looked at her as if she were a terrifying monster who was about to leap out of her chair and attack them. Some of them, clearly, had not forgotten about the fire in the common room that had nearly gotten her expelled from school. Halo hadn't forgotten it either, of course, but he had thought that all that stuff was behind her. After all, she had been able to keep control of her magic since that day. Now this had happened, and even though it was pretty minor compared to what had happened that night it still worried him. If anyone found out what'd happened, Cleo would be in serious trouble. He couldn't let it come to that, no matter what.

He was about to sink into his usual chair when he realized with a jolt that it was not, in fact, empty. Sitting in his favourite chair, curled up like a sleeping cat, was Sam, who looked like she had fallen into an uneasy sleep while trying to stay awake. Halo wondered what she was doing down in the common room this early in the morning, but decided not to wake her up and ask. Samantha Crabbe had never been the easiest person to have a conversation with, but in recent days she had become even more difficult and… well Crabby. Halo smiled far too widely than any reasonable person should at his own lame joke. But, then again, he was only eleven.

Halo backed away from the sleeping girl, having no desire to wake her up and find out what kind of mood she was in this early in the morning. Unfortunately Sam had very good hearing, or maybe she was just sleeping very lightly, because before he could back away and leave her in peace her eyes flew open and she sat up, hand immediately reaching for her wand. As she blinked the sleep out of her eyes, she recognized him and relaxed, yawning loudly.

"Oh, it's you, Simba," Sam said running her hand through her spikey blue hair. "You're not usually up this early."

Halo wondered how she knew that. Was is because sleeping down in the common room was something she did regularly? He found the whole thing rather strange, and didn't really know what to say. Just like he did always whenever that happened, he didn't say anything at all.

"What happened to you?" Sam asked, her brown eyes immediately zeroing in on his right arm.

"I-it's nothing," Halo lied, trying to not feel guilty. Lying to his friends wasn't nearly as easy as it was to lie to grown-ups, and he hated every time he had to do it. He shouldn't have even bothered, though. He should have known it would take a lot more than that to fool Sam Crabbe.

"It's was the Lestrange girl, wasn't it, Simba?" She said, realizing what was going on in a second.

"Her name is Cleo," snapped Halo, annoyed. Why did everyone always have to call her that?

"It was, wasn't it?" pressed Sam, moving to stand in front of him. Before Halo could decide whether he was brave enough to try and stop her she grabbed his right sleeve and pulled it up, revealing his burned arm. Sam's eyes narrowed when she saw it, but clearly she was relieved that it wasn't worse. Halo was a bit surprised that she was so concerned. He and Sam weren't the best of friends, mostly because of her prickly personality, but she clearly liked him better than she liked most other people. He was grateful that so many people were worried about him over the past few days, but he thought it was going to bit overboard. Sure, it hurt a little, but he was hardly going to die from a little burn on his arm.

"She's losing control again," Sam said ominously. "Don't forget what happened last time. She might have burned the whole Slytherin common room down. If she isn't able to-"

"Cleo is fine," snapped Halo, trying to pull his sleeve out of her grasp. Sam was bigger and stronger than he was, though, and she was able to keep her grip fairly easily. "It's their fault anyways… whoever said something terrible and mean to her last night when she went to deliver a letter."

"That doesn't really matter," Sam said as she completely ignored his argument. "She has to learn to deal with it, just like we all do. People aren't just going to just start being nicer to the Lestrange girl, or any of us Slytherins, just because you want them to, Simba. There's far too many years of pain and hatred for them to forget what the Voldemort and his followers did that easily."

"But that's just stupid!" Halo said. "None of us were ever Death Eaters, so why are they taking it out on us? It's completely unfair."

"It is, but that doesn't matter to anyone. What they don't realize though, is that most of us hate the Death Eaters every bit as much as they do. All they ever did was tear families apart, first by killing others and then by getting killed or locked away themselves. Do you really think there's anyone who hates the words Death Eater more than me?" Sam's voice shook with anger, and Halo, in that moment, didn't think there was.

Sam took a deep breath to calm down, shrugged and turned away, looking out into the lake. "In their mind, I guess it makes sense. They have no one else to blame, since the real Death Eaters are dead or in Azkaban. For someone who lost a loved one in the war, there is no way to get any kind of revenge on someone like that. After all, even a prisoner's family member can only visit them in Azkaban once or twice a year, and they need special permission form the Ministry to do it. Their children and grandchildren, or their nephews, nieces and distant relations are a different story. They are easy targets. I know how it is, because my grandfather and uncle were Death Eaters. My uncle actually died trying to kill Harry Potter in the Battle of Hogwarts. You really think people let me forget that? You really think no one has ever shouted anything at me in the hallways?"

Halo didn't know what to say, so once again he kept quiet. He had never really noticed how students treated the other Slytherins, mostly because he was so focused on Cleo. Was it really that bad for Sam and the others too? "It's the same for so many of us," she continued, picking at her blue hair in a distracted sort of way. "Atalanta's grandfather and uncle were both Death Eaters, and both were killed fighting the Ministry. Scorpius's whole family served Voldemort, almost until the very end. They would have all been sent to Azkaban, if Harry Potter hadn't intervened on their behalf personally. You'll be hard pressed to find a single Slytherin who isn't closely related to a Death Eater in some way… except maybe you, Simba. So you can ask people to be reasonable all you want, but that doesn't mean they'll listen. We're all just Death Eaters to them."

"Not all of them," Halo said quietly. "Rose, Albus, Sora and the others aren't all like that, and neither is my sister."

Sam scowled when he said Rose's name, or maybe it was in reaction to Sora's name, it was hard to tell. Sam really didn't get on too well with either of them. He could tell that she had gotten herself pretty worked up, and was in no mood for a counterargument, especially not one involving Rose. Thankfully, though, she calmed down a little before she spoke.

"No, not quite everyone," Sam conceded grudgingly. "There are a few, I guess, who aren't so bad. I must say, your sister was pretty insufferable on Sunday though."

"What happened on Sunday?" Halo asked, confused. He had still been recovering from magic drain, and had slept nearly the whole day. Had something happened?

"The first Quidditch match of the year," Sam said, sounding surprised that he hadn't heard. "Slytherin played Hufflepuff and lost again. It was the first time in years that Atalanta wasn't able to catch the snitch. She was, well, pretty upset. Your sister didn't make it any better, mocking her mercilessly for it. I'm actually a bit surprised that she's still alive."

Halo laughed nervously, but it really wasn't that funny. With Atalanta, something like that was no hollow threat. So that was why Atalanta hadn't stopped to speak to him when he'd come out of the hospital wing. He was actually kind of glad she hadn't come to seek him out personally. Atalanta was beyond scary to be around when she was angry, and he could only imagine how angry she must have been to lose to Hufflepuff.

"Well, not that I don't love chatting Simba, but I have to go," Sam said abruptly, rising to her feet. She took off her robes, revealing muggle-style running shorts and a green tee shirt.

"Wha-?"

"I'm going running," Sam said unnecessarily, as if she might possibly be doing something else with that outfit on.

"Erm, why?"

Sam didn't answer, she just gave him a clever smile that absolutely confirmed that she was up to something, and was certainly not going to tell him what it was. Before he could ask any more questions, though, she got up and left him alone in the common room. Sam liked to go jogging? Who would have guessed?

The way the rest of the day unfolded, his conversation with Sam was quickly forgotten. It wasn't because of his classes, which were actually pretty subdued that day. Most of his professors didn't even try to teach the students anything new on Halloween, because they had all been teaching long enough to know that the minds of their young charges were elsewhere. This was a special relief for Halo, because since they didn't practice anything serious he wasn't pulled aside before every class by the professor and told not to try too hard so that he wouldn't faint. Plus, no one payed close enough attention to him to notice the way he held his right arm close to his body or kept it covered. Sam looked over at him several times, but thankfully she kept her mouth shut. Halo knew that her silence came at a price, though, and he avoided asking her any questions about what had happened that morning. He very much wanted to know where she had gone at six in the morning, but he knew he had to wait. He wondered, though, why she had to be so annoying about it. Between Atalanta, Evey, Cleo, James, Courtney, Sam, and even Cassy… Halo wondered why it was that he'd found himself surrounded by all the world's most difficult people.

The last class of the day was Herbology, which was still being taught by the headmistress. Professor Sprout seemed even more cheerful than usual that day, which was saying something, and said she had a special project for them all. It ended the most difficult class of the day for Halo, because they spent the whole time in Greenhouse 4, chipping the extra bark off of crystal palms, which was a rare type of tree from South America whose bark was naturally made up of multi-coloured crystals. It wasn't difficult to chip off and collect the extra crystals, but it took a lot of effort and manual labour, since the crystals were apparently impervious to magic. After a few minutes Halo's arm was really hurting, and he didn't chip away at the bark with nearly as much enthusiasm as his fellow students.

"You're not going to faint are you?" Hissed Otto McLaggen, who was working nearby with a group of Hufflepuffs. He said it just quietly enough so that the headmistress wouldn't hear him. "I thought it was only using magic that made you pass out, Wiggins."

Halo blushed furiously as Valerie Parsons laughed at the joke and even Julie Bones, who had always been polite and nice to Halo giggled reluctantly. The only one at the table who didn't laugh was Sora, who remained intent on their assigned task while the others got distracted teasing Halo. He seemed to frown in disapproval, but he didn't say anything in Halo's defence. It hurt a bit, but Halo wasn't terribly surprised. After all, what was Sora supposed to say? There was no way to tell these idiots the truth.

"What about you, McLaggen?" Sam said suddenly, from where she was working on the same tree as Halo and Cleo. Sam didn't ever bother to keep her voice down, as if challenging the headmistress to intervene. Professor Sprout, however, did nothing, and continued to work with some of the other Hufflepuffs on the far side of the Greenhouse. "I hope these scary old trees don't frighten you too much. We wouldn't want you to wet your bed… again."

Otto turned red so fast that no one had any doubt that Sam was telling the truth. Now Sam, Julie and Valerie were laughing at Otto, while Halo, Sora and Cleo just continued to work, trying to ignore the whole exchange. Halo was more grateful than he would ever admit that Sam had stood up for him, even if she had been a bit mean about it. And how had she heard about something like that? It just didn't make any sense.

"Shut up, you stupid blue-haired Death Eater freak," Otto snarled loudly, lashing out in his embarrassment. Halo knew the boy well enough that Otto wasn't really a bad bloke, he was just jealous and a little mean-spirited. Still calling someone a Death Eater, especially these days, was taking it way too far. After this morning, Halo knew how much Sam hated that word, and he wasn't surprised that she very nearly snapped, her hand flying immediately to her wand. As she drew her wand, so did every other Slytherin in the classroom except Cleo and Halo. Halo found, to his slight surprise, that his fingers moved a little towards his own wand in a split second of rage at what the boy had said.

"Enough," someone said sharply, and Halo was a little surprised that it had been Sora. He was so sure that the headmistress would have put a stop to this herself, but she still said nothing, simply watching the whole exchange without comment.

"You better start controlling your baby badgers, Takahashi," Sam snarled, pointing her wand at Sora as if this were all his fault. Sora seemed quite calm, somehow, and to everyone's surprise he actually reached forward and touched her wand arm lightly. Halo was so sure that Sam would curse him for touching her arm, but for some reason she didn't.

"There is more than one person at fault here," Sora said, still using that calm voice that Halo never in a million years would have been able to pull off, especially not when Sam had her wand pointed at him. Everyone waited breathlessly to see what Sam would do, and at length she sighed in irritation and, after shrugging Sora off, stuffed her want back into her robes with such force that the tip of it burned a small hole in her pocket. Either she didn't care, or she didn't notice.

"Well done, Sora," Headmistress Sprout said, striding over to their table. She didn't sound angry, but her eyes flashed dangerously as she looked back and forth between Sam and Otto. "It is never an easy thing to diffuse tensions in a group, and it is a sign of a true leader. Ten points to Hufflepuff." She didn't look over at Halo, but he felt that she was a little disappointed in him for not stepping up and doing what Sora had done. Truth be told, he was pretty disappointed in himself for doing nothing. He was supposed to be the leader of his little group trying to save the world, wasn't he? Why was he so much worse at it than everyone else seemed to be?

"I am glad that you all came to your senses before I had to intervene directly," the headmistress said, still looking back and forth between Otto and Sam. Otto was staring at the floor with a guilty look on his face, while Sam studied her nails as if they were far more interesting than what Professor Sprout was saying. "You would have been in very serious trouble had you used magic on a fellow student. As it is, I will let you off with detention and a warning that any further action like this will be result in far harsher punishment. Also, five points will be taken from each of your Houses. I hope you learn from this incident, and nothing like this ever happens again."

Otto nodded meekly, while Sam started chewing on her thumbnail, ignoring her words completely. Headmistress Sprout was not too impressed with her attitude, but she didn't seem surprised by it. After all, Halo reasoned, she had been around a long time, and she had probably seen it all.

"You may all go," the headmistress said, even though there was supposed to be twenty minutes left of class. "Enjoy the feast tonight, children, and I expect to see you all back in Greenhouse 1 on Thursday morning with a better attitude."

There was no cheering as they left the classroom, despite the early finish. Everyone seemed too subdued to say much of anything, except for Sam, who just seemed angry.

"Well, that's the last time I stick my neck out for you, Simba," She growled as they all strode back into the castle. "You're on your own from now on." She patted him hard on the right arm, as if pretending to offer sympathy. Halo almost screamed as pain shot through his burned arm, and he knew she had patted him on his burned arm on purpose. No one was paying much attention as he flinched badly except for Cleo, who stared at him with her big blue eyes as Sam strode away. Halo wanted to scream after Sam, but he knew that wouldn't make anything better.

"Halo-" Cleo started to say quietly. It was still unusual for her to initiate conversations outside of their room, and even rarer for Halo to shut her down.

"I have to go," Halo said as the throbbing in his arm got worse, and he had to struggle to keep from screaming. Damn that Samantha Crabbe, why did she have to be such a spiteful girl? "Just be in the library at four like we all agreed, Cleo, alright?"

"But-"

"Just be there, okay?" Snapped Halo. He had never snapped at Cleo like that before, and he would never have done it under normal circumstances, but his brain was fuzzy from the pain and he couldn't think straight. At least, that's what Halo told himself later when he'd calmed down enough to realize what he'd done. He turned away from Cleo and ran up the staircase to the second floor where no one was around and raced into the closest bathroom. He rolled up his sleeve and got ready to place his arm under the cold running water. The first sink didn't work, much to his annoyance, but the one next to it did, and when his arm was under the water he sighing in relief. The pain had been so constant all day that he had almost gotten used to it, but it still felt good to run it under the cool water.

He probably stayed there for over 20 minutes, and might have stayed there straight until four o'clock if he hadn't heard what sounded like someone sobbing in the farthest stall. Crying, in the boy's bathroom… that was never a good sign. Halo, just like always, didn't even think about it. He immediately wanted to help.

"Hello?" He called, trying to sound friendly. "Is everything alright?"

The only answer he got was a strangled yowl and the sound of someone… or something, flying into the toilet. Halo couldn't have possibly been prepared for that, and he immediately raced out of the bathroom as quick as he could. Whoever had been crying must have been a… a. He shuddered, and tried not think about it.

There was nothing Halo hated more than ghosts. They gave him the willies.

He sprinted out of the bathroom so fast that he nearly collided with someone who just happened to be walking by. He managed to avoid a serious collision, but only by falling painfully on his rear end.

"_Halo_?" asked Annie Trout, using that tone of stunned disbelief that only Annie seemed capable of producing. "What in Merlin's name were you doing?" It was an outdated wizard expression, but one that Annie, being muggle-born, was quite taken with.

"I just had to wash my hands," mumbled Halo, thoroughly embarrassed as a group of girls (which Halo was pretty sure was called a gaggle) crowded around him. There were two older Gryffindor girls that Halo had never met before, Annie, Shandra, Megan Goldstein, and Haley Azure, who were all Gryffindors in his year.

"Harry," Megan said, looking as though she was trying very hard not to laugh, if only because they had known each other since they were little, "I think Annie means what were you doing in the _girl's_ bathroom?"

The gaggle of girls dissolved into a fit of laughter, and Halo was pretty sure he was going to die of embarrassment right then and there. He looked in disbelief at the sign on the door, and sure enough it clearly said Girls.

"You lot go on ahead," Shandra said, wiping a tear from here eye. "Annie and I will get the poor boy straightened out." Halo knew she only said it because they were all about to go to the library for a secret meeting with the rest of THOMAC, but the other girls seemed to think it was something else. They giggled to each other shrilly, and gave Halo and Shandra sly looks that Shandra ignored and Halo pretended not to see. Mercifully they were gone soon enough, and Halo groaned as he lay down in the middle of the hallway and curled into a ball. What a day.

"Are you alright, Halo?" Annie asked, sounding concerned. He wasn't, he was far from alright between the pain in his arm and his crushing embarrassment, but he didn't want Shandra to know that. Or Annie either, he supposed.

"I'm fine, uh, just a little tired," Halo said careful not to lie. He was actually tired, so even though it wasn't the whole truth it was still part of it. "Let's head over to the library, shall we?"

"We can take our time," Shandra said cheerfully, helping Halo to his feet. He was careful not wince as she pulled him up on his right arm, it wasn't easy, but he managed it somehow. "After all, it's barely past three yet."

So Halo walked around the school, chatting about all sorts of things with Annie and Shandra. He really liked those two; he had liked them since the first day he'd met them right before sorting, and he was glad they didn't hold his House against him. The hour seemed to pass to quickly, and before he knew if they were standing in front of the library.

"What do you think he's like?" Annie asked breathlessly. "Rose and Albus basically never stop talking about him."

"Really?" Halo asked, surprised. They had never talked about him with Halo. He wondered why.

"He must really be something, to be dating Victoire Weasley," Shandra said, as if dating a girl as gorgeous and talented as Victoire were some superhuman feat. Halo personally didn't care about all that. He just hoped that he could help them decipher the book they had found in Vance's laboratory so that hopefully it would give them the clue that they needed to stop Lily's vision. And why did girls always think about love so much? It was stupid.

"What you lot waiting for, a written invitation?" Rose called out from inside the library. Halo hadn't known that she could see them from where she was sitting, and scowled at her. He hadn't exactly been thinking the nicest thoughts about Rose in recent days, not after her stupid excuse had made him the biggest laugh in Hogwarts. He hadn't been able to properly vent his frustrations yet, but it was coming.

Revenge would taste sweet… just as soon as he thought of a way to get back at her.

Shandra, Annie and Halo entered the library, and it seemed like they were the last ones there. The rest of THOMAC was already assembled in a semicircle in the back of the library. Halo was surprised to see Tommy, Charlie and Heather were also there, but he just shrugged and waved to them as they greeted him. They had been unofficial members since Hogsmede, so it made sense for them to official join the group now. Ms. Vance the librarian kept gave them a curious look, probably wondering what they were all doing the library an hour before the feast, but she didn't kick them out. After all, she had given them permission to use the library as the meeting place for their group, even if she had no idea what it actually was. Halo was careful not to let her see the book that they had gone through such lengths to recover, not after what she had done to the previous copy he had found. He doubted she could read the obscure rune language of Midunetjer well enough to recognize it for what it was, but he didn't want to take any chances.

"So where is he?" Halo asked he sat down in an empty seat between Atalanta and Scorpius. The seat seemed to be open primarily because no one wanted to sit next to Atalanta, who was twirling her wand in her long fingers the way she did when she was bored and/or angry. Halo didn't feel particularly safe sitting next to her when she was like that, but he figured he was bound to be safer than anyone else would be in that seat. After all, Atalanta actually liked him… unlike everyone else.

"He was, er, busy with Vic," James said trying to keep a straight face and failing. Halo didn't understand what he was talking about, but most of the others did. Cassy and Heather giggled together the way that only best friends can giggle, while Courtney scowled as if unimpressed, Annie widened her eyes surprise and Shandra looked a little wistful. The boys, mostly, looked either embarrassed or bored. Atalanta and Sam, like always, looked angry and disinterested at the same time. Halo wondered what Cleo's reaction would be, but as he looked around he realized with a jolt that she wasn't there. Was she angry with him for snapping at her? He hadn't meant to. Without even thinking about it, he got to his feet to go try and find her.

"Halo, where are you going?" Cassy called in surprise as Halo moved towards the door, but he ignored her. She wouldn't understand anyways. No one ever seemed to understand when it came to Cleo.

He was about to leave the library when someone walked in, blocking the doorway for a second. Halo had never seen the person before, but he had absolutely no doubt who it was. There was no way that the young man in front of him could be anyone other than Ted Lupin.

Ted was tall and lanky, with long blond hair that fell perfectly as if he the star of some muggle advertising campaign. It wasn't as though he looked like male model, because he moved a little too awkwardly for that, but he definitely had all the girls sighing after him and all the guys either hating him or wanting to be him. Halo didn't think about any of that, though, because the only word that came to mind when he saw Ted was cool. Halo had no doubt whatsoever that he would be able to help them, how could he not?

Ted smiled as he saw Halo and cheerfully walked forward, reaching his hand out for Halo to shake. He wore what looked like an antique bracelet that covered his left forearm that had to be from some obscure tribe somewhere in the world. Seriously, Halo thought, how could he be any cooler? He was less thrilled to accept Ted's handshake, hoping no one noticed the way he grit his teeth and Ted shook his injured arm up and down.

"You must be Harry Wiggins," Ted said in an easy-laid back tone that put Halo at easy, despite the fact that it felt like Ted was tearing his arm off with a handshake. "Vee told me that this little group was all your idea. She would have come along, but she has a lot to do for the feast tonight. She is Head Girl after all."

"Well, it was really everyone's idea," Halo muttered, not sure what to say in response to the complement. Ted seemed far to cool to be handing out compliments, especially to a little kid like him. Their conversation was interrupted abruptly by Albus, Rose and James, who rushed forward to tackle Ted in a group hug.

"Teddy!" Rose chirped happily like a little girl as she grabbed him tightly around the waist, acting as un-Rose like as Halo'd ever seen her. "Do the thing, do the thing!"

"Rosie, we have a lot to do," Ted said with a laugh, trying to shake her off. He should have known that wouldn't work. Rose was incredibly stubborn when she wanted to be, and she always got her way.

"Fine," Ted said, relenting. Without warning, his nose morphed, turning from a small little nose to a huge, crooked thing complete with warts. His hair became long and grey, and he hunched over like an old man.

"I'm here to eat you, my little pretty," He wheezed, grabbing Rose suddenly and tickling her mercilessly. Rose laughed hysterically, and most of the others joined in while Ms. Vance frowned over at them in disapproval. If there had been anyone else in the library trying to study, she probably would have thrown them out for being too loud, but since it was just them she let them get away with it. Halo, for his part, was equal parts amused and amazed. He had never seen anyone who could change their appearance like that at will. Even Halo, who was very talented at transfiguration, could never have done that so easily.

"You're a metamorphmagus," Atalanta said, looking at Ted with a glint of interest in her eyes. "I never knew that. That actually explains rather a lot."

"Little Selwyn," Ted said, his hair and nose turning back to normal as he turned to face her with a neutral but slightly cold look on his face. "I gotta say, I didn't expect you to be." Halo blinked, surprised that they knew each other. It actually made sense, since Ted had only graduated from Hogwarts two years ago, but he just seemed so much older than them.

"Well, even Slytherins want to save the world, given that we all live in it," Atalanta said, twirling her wand in her long fingers. Ted stared at her for a second, not really understanding. He turned to grin at James and his cousins, as if expecting someone to say just kidding. No one did.

"Wait, you're serious," Ted said quietly, his grin fading. "What is going on? Vee just said you had a book for me to look at."

"Well, there's a little more to it," Rose said slowly. She, Cassy, and Atalanta took turns explaining everything that had happened and all the things they knew or suspected because they were the three best at doing that sort of thing. Halo watched Ted nervously, expecting him to shake his head in disbelief and tell them they were all daft. Ted said nothing of the sort, though, he just looked thoughtful. The only strange thing was that as he thought, his left eye rapidly changed colours, shifting from brown to grey to orange to blue to purple and back to brown. It was, without a doubt, the oddest nervous habit that Halo had ever seen.

"Show me the book," Ted said quietly when the girls were finished telling him their story. Everyone was nervous and quiet as Albus brought the stack of parchment, handing it to Ted. He studied the cover for a minute or so, flipping through the first few pages.

"Can you read it?" Cassy asked curiously, interrupting the silence that had fallen over their little group.

"Yes, but it will take a while," Ted said, sounding irritated. "This a complicated book, and it will take me a while to work through it. I wish I could tell you everything you need to know immediately, but unfortunately I can't. Midunetjer is a hard enough language, and this Vance fellow seems to have a fondness for big words. I will need to look at my dictionaries back in Sion. I promise, though, that I will tell you what I find as soon as I can."

It wasn't quite Halo had hoped for, but it was far better than it could have been. They were going to get their answers, it was just going to take a while.

Halo just hoped they had enough time.

Ted was about to ask another question when they were all distracted by a newcomer who slowly walked into the library, shuffling her feet. Cleo looked absolutely miserable as she walked up to Halo, ignoring everyone else.

"I'm sorry I'm late," she whispered, "I know you said to come at 4, but I just couldn't…"

Halo stared at her, completely at a loss. He had never seen her look so desperately sad, not ever when she had been facing expulsion.

"Hello, Clytemnestra," Ted said speaking to her without looking at her. "I was wondering where you had gone off to."

Cleo started shaking as he spoke to her. Halo was confused for a second, and then he suddenly understood. Of course! After Cleo had been rescued, she had been brought to live with her aunt, Andromeda Tonks, who was also raising her orphaned grandson Ted Lupin. These two had lived together for some time, and Halo could tell that there was some tension between them. She had been reluctant to come here and see him today… why hadn't Halo been able to sense that? At first Halo thought she was scared of him, but he knew her well enough to know she wasn't shaking out of fear. It was guilt, she felt incredibly guilty about something. But what?

"But I'm glad you're here," Ted said, not sounding particularly glad to Halo. "There's something I want to say, and it's best that you're here for it."

Cleo didn't respond at all, she just kept her eyes fixed on the floor at Halo's feet. The mood of the whole room changed, and Halo felt very uneasy. It felt as if something bad was about to happen.

"What is it, Teddy?" Rose asked, trying to break the tension. Either that, or she just hated silence that much and felt the compulsion to say something.

"You called me here, telling me that some unknown magic is about to set the sky on fire, starting right here at Hogwarts. Well I can solve that little mystery right here. I know exactly how the sky is going to be set on fire."

"You do?" Annie asked quietly, as she and most of the other first-years stared at Ted in wide eyes disbelief.

"I've only met one person who could spontaneously start fires with nothing more than thought, fires that couldn't be put out or contained," Ted said quietly everyone hanging on his every word, "and that person is standing right in front of me."

"If anything or anyone is powerful enough to set the whole sky on fire, it is my _dear cousin_ Clytemnestra Lestrange."


	39. Chapter 35

Chapter 35 The Vote

Halo very nearly laughed out loud. Cleo be the one to set the sky on fire? That was completely ridiculous! He was about to grin and laugh it off when he saw the looks that the others were giving Ted.

"We already knew that," Atalanta said without much interest, twirling her wand around her fingers twice as fast as before. "It's pretty obvious when you think about it."

Cassy, Rose and Sam all nodded in agreement, refusing to meet Halo's eyes as they did, and his mouth dropped open in disbelief. W-what were they all talking about? Cleo would never… she just couldn't-. In the back of Halo's mind, an uncomfortable thought formed, but he did his best to ignore it. Cleo wasn't in full control of herself, and of all the strange uses of magic he had seen during his time at Hogwarts, nothing could compare to the raw power he had seen use Cleo use in Mr. Potter's memory. She had beaten both Harry Potter and Bellatrix Lestrange, two very powerful and experienced wizards, when she was just seven years old. There was no telling what she could do now if she ever did lose control of-.

Halo banished those thoughts firmly, refusing to even consider them. The Cleo he knew would never lose control of her powers so completely that she would set the whole sky on fire, not while he was there to help her. Halo refused to even consider the alternative. The others were all wrong about her; they were blinded by their prejudice. They wanted to believe that she was the villain, because they all wanted to hate her because of all the bad things her mother had done. It was wrong.

Halo was furious with all of them, especially Cassy and Rose. How could his sister and the girl he considered his best friend betray him like this?

"So you've all been talking about it behind my back, have you?" Halo snarled, rounding on Cassy, Rose and the others. Halo, as a rule, didn't snarl, but he had never been so angry.

"Halo…" Rose tried to say, looking close to tears. Normally the sight of Rose looking so upset would have been enough to calm him down, but not this time. He was just too angry. Halo was about to shout at them all and probably would have said a thing or two that he would've regretted later, but before he could speak Cleo reached out and grabbed his left arm, forcing him to look at her. Her clear blue eyes were close to his, close enough to see that they were completely empty and dead, just like they so often were when people starting talking about how scary or dangerous she was. She didn't say anything, instead she just shook her head. She plainly didn't want him the fight with the others, not for her sake.

Halo nodded slowly, forcing himself to calm down. It was pretty amazing the way that he could understand her even when she said nothing at all, but then again maybe it wasn't so surprising. They lived in the same room, after all, and Halo spent more time with Cleo than he even did with Rose and Albus, who were probably his other closest friends. It made sense they would have a certain level of understanding, but why was it that he was the only one who understood her? Why was everyone always so wrong about Cleo?

"Halo, I need you to listen to me," Cassy said, moving to stand in front of him. As she did so, Cleo shrank back, standing off to the side by herself with her eyes looking down at her own feet. "I know you trust Clytemnestra, but some things are out of everyone's control. No one is saying that she would try to destroy the world on purpose, I know she wouldn't do that, but, well, accidents have happened before around her. I think you are too close to this to see what is really going on. Like Ted said, if there is anyone who has the power to bring about the future you saw, it's her."

"You're wrong," Halo muttered, "You're the one who doesn't understand. Cleo is-"

"What, just misunderstood?" Atalanta snapped, cutting him off. "Innocent? Harmless? Even you aren't dumb enough to really believe that."

"Maybe not," Halo replied, refusing to back down, even from her, "but I know her. She just isn't capable of doing what you all think she can do."

"You're wrong," Ted said quietly, speaking for the first time in a while. After he had made his initial accusation he had kept silent, watching Harry and Clytemnestra intently, as if trying to see into their minds. "I lived with her for nearly three years. There's nothing she isn't capable of."

Halo and the others all turned to face him. Ms. Vance must have left to go to the feast already because she wasn't around anymore, which was lucky. If she was still in the library, there would have been no way to keep her from hearing every word. Everyone was completely silent, watching Ted closely. Everyone, that is, except Cleo, who continued to stare at her feet. If anyone had been looking at her, they would have seen tears in her eyes. But no one was looking, and she reached up and brushed them away before anyone noticed.

"I was about to return to Hogwarts for my fifth year when Harry Potter showed up at my house with Ron Weasley and a little girl who looked like she was barely alive. They didn't say much to me, they just talked with my grandmother in secret and left, just like that. It was a bit unusual, because my godfather Harry always took the time to answer my questions, but this time he didn't. All I knew was that suddenly there was this young girl living in our house, a girl who my grandmother said was named Clytemnestra."

Halo and many of the others turned to look at Cleo, but she didn't react to the story at all. She stayed very still, eyes focused on the ground and her hands clenched tightly.

"In that week before I went off to school, I didn't really get to know her very well. She was a quiet girl who almost never said anything, but she honestly just seemed a little shy," Ted continued. "I didn't know what was really going on until the night before I left. I was up late, finishing the last of my summer homework that I had, er, put off, when I heard her crying loudly in her room. I didn't know what was going on, so I went in to check on her.

When I opened the door, I was shocked to see that most of the room was on fire. I immediately rushed over to Clytemnestra, who was caught in the middle of it, but as I approached her I saw something was… different about her. Her eyes were-" Ted stopped speaking, unable to convey exactly what her eyes were like. Halo knew exactly what he was talking about, though. He has seen it himself.

"Her eyes were almost glowing, as if they were lit by their own fire," Halo said quietly.

"Yes," Ted said, taken aback. "How did you know that?"

"Yes, Halo, how _did_ you know that," Atalanta asked, using her most dangerous voice. "Here I was under the impression that you had told us everything and weren't keeping any secrets."

"I-" Halo began, but he really didn't know what else to say. He had never told anyone about what Cleo was truly capable of. He had never mentioned that she had killed her mother, not to anyone. He knew how they would react when they heard something like that. They would hate her for something that wasn't even her fault. After all, she hadn't meant to kill anyone, she had been completely different in that moment when she had killed her mother. It was as if she hadn't been the Cleo he knew at all.

"Well, so her eyes were glowing, but it was more than that," Ted continued awkwardly. "She looked like she was in a kind of trance, and there was something distinctly different about her, almost like she was another person. She asked me who I was, even though I had said goodnight to her maybe two hours before. I tried to reach out to help get her out of the fire to safety, but as I reached for her she grabbed my arm and…" Ted stopped speaking, slowly reaching over to his left arm on which he wore an exotic looking bracelet that covered his whole forearm. Slowly he removed the bracelet, and then held up his left arm for everyone to see.

Teddy's left forearm was dominated by a large scar that was unmistakably in the shape of a small hand. It must have been a very bad burn to leave scar like that that hadn't faded, four years later. Rose and several others gasped when they saw it, and even Halo was horrified as he looked at it. Some of the others turned to look back at Cleo again, and they all had undisguised fear in their eyes.

"So that's why you were a week late to Hogwarts that year," Atalanta said. She alone, out of all of them, didn't sound shaken by the story. She just seemed to find it interesting.

"Yes, that's why," Ted said, replacing the bracelet covering on his left arm. "That is what it looks like after it was healed by some of the most skilled healers at St. Mungo's. They said that I very nearly lost my arm, and kept asking me what had happened, but I just pretended I didn't remember. I never told the Ministry or the healers exactly what had happened to me, because I knew it wouldn't do any good. You see, Clytemnestra didn't mean to do it, at least the one who's standing right there. That Clytemnestra is a pretty nice kid, she's just a little shy. It was only later that I learned that she was my cousin once removed, the only daughter of my Great Aunt Bellatrix Lestrange, who murdered my parents. Bellatrix tortured her daughter as she grew up, using dark magic on her for reasons no one really understands. I do know that, thanks to that monster, Clytemnestra is not the only person inside that body. Maybe it's just a broken, twisted part of the girl that's buried deep because of everything she went through, but in the end it doesn't really matter how it happened. The important thing is that and she'd not always in control. You know that, don't you, Harry?"

Halo didn't want to say it, but he knew there was no choice. He had seen that side of Cleo before, and had come to the same conclusion Ted had. There was some other person that stayed quiet most of the time, asleep seemingly unless she thought she was in danger. That was the person who had killed Bellatrix Lestrange and who had nearly burned the Slytherin common room down, although Halo was pretty sure Cleo had been holding that other person back the second time. If she had, there's no telling what might have happened.

"T-that used to be true, but it's different now," Halo said after a long pause. "She can control that other part of her. I know her, and she would never lose control so completely that she would destroy the world."

"Maybe you're right," Ted said slowly as if he really wanted to believe Halo but couldn't. "Then again, maybe not. Before I left my grandmother's house for good after I graduated from Hogwarts it seemed her condition was getting a little better, but it never really went away. That other part still exists inside of her, and it could come out at any time. There's simply no telling what she's capable of when it does. You say she had some control the last time, but in my experience she has no control at all when she gets like that. When that other part of herself is awake, she's so powerful that she can do… well, anything really. I'm not supposed to know this, but I overheard my grandmother talking about my godfather one day. In that state, she even killed her own mother."

There was dead silence for maybe a second, and then everyone started talking at once, most of them shouting in disbelief. Halo closed his eyes and sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his right hand. That was the one secret he had been determined to keep from everyone, no matter what. Maybe this was bound to happen, since trying to keep secrets never seem to do any good. The fact that everyone learned this now, right after Ted told his story, made her seem even worse. If Halo had just told everyone earlier, he might have been able to explain exactly what happened and why. Now it was far too late for that. Still, he had to try to convince them.

"All that may have once been true, but that isn't who she is anymore," Halo said again loudly, "She can control it, I've seen her." Slowly some of the others fell silent, but it didn't look like they believed him, not even Cassy or Rose, who Halo always counted on to be on his side. Cleo had fought so hard and been through so much to make it this far. Why did no one but him see the progress she was making?

"Simba," Sam said loudly, eyes hard and unforgiving. "Why don't you show us your right arm?"

As soon as she said it, Halo knew it truly was all over. There was no way to convince them that Cleo wasn't the person they all feared she was, not now. Slowly he reached over and pulled up his right sleeve, because he really had no choice, and showed them all his burned arm.

He wasn't sure what was worse, the look of horror and anger on his sister's face when she saw his arm or the way Cleo's shoulders slumped when she saw what she had done without meaning to. Everyone started shouting again and in a sudden movement Cleo turned and ran, racing out of the library before anyone could stop her.

"Cleo!" Halo shouted after her, but she ignored him. He wanted to run after her, to tell her everything was okay, but he didn't. He would go after her later and find a way to calm her down, but he couldn't do it yet. First, he had to convince the others not to tell anyone about this. If any of the adults found out that Cleo had slipped up again, no matter how minor, Cleo would be expelled for sure, and Halo would never see her again.

"Damn it, Sam," he said rounding on the blue haired girl, who didn't even look a little bit guilty.

"What?" she demanded. "Are you seriously still on her side? She's a disaster waiting to happen, and has been since the day she got here. You can say she's getting better at control all you want, but clearly it's not good enough. We have to turn her over to the professors, hell maybe even the Ministry, before she loses it again and sets the whole world on fire. You're the one who warned us about what was coming, and yet now you're the only one who can't see it. Wake the fuck up, damn it."

Halo gaped at her, shocked that she would use such language. It wasn't that he'd never heard anything like that before, he was eleven years old after all, but none of the kids his age had ever said something like that to him. He just… he didn't know how to react.

"We can't just hand her over because she _might_ do something," James said, glaring at Sam. "burning someone's arm is one thing, destroying the whole world is another. We should be careful before we accuse her of something she very well might not be able to do. Plus, if the Ministry hears about this, they wouldn't wait for any proof, they'd us use it as an excuse to get rid of her for good. They would probably send her straight to Azkaban for the rest of her life if they could just because of who her mother is." Halo was confused for a second as to why he and James were actually agreeing, and then he remembered that James wanted to help Cleo too, and had wanted to believe in her ever since he had helped save her life four years ago. Maybe he was actually on Halo's side, for once.

Well, he could have spoken up sooner.

"Yes, well, that's typically what they do with murderers," Courtney said, reminding Halo once again that there was no one he disliked more. "I hope they do lock her away forever."

"I think that would be terrible," Annie said, her hands trembling. "I mean, I know she's a bit scary, but locking her away forever? That's just so sad."

"She's going to destroy the world, though," Charlie said looking to Tommy, Heather and Cassy for support. "If that's the alternative, we have no choice but to lock her away, right?"

"She'll be dangerous no matter where she is," Atalanta said, letting her wand spin around her fingers one last time and into her palm where she grasped it tightly as if she was ready to use it. "As long as she has her wand, she can kill us all at any time. Who knows, she might even be able to do it without her wand, if she is as powerful as Lupin claims."

"What are you saying?" Heather asked, looking at Atalanta with intense dislike. "Do you want to murder an eleven-year-old?"

The room got completely silent, and Halo felt his heart hammering in his chest. Kill… kill Cleo? She couldn't possibly mean that. Sure, Atalanta always seemed dangerous, but whenever he thought she might kill someone he never took it that seriously. Did she really...?

"Selwyn," Ted said in a voice that was so calm it was clearly forced, "Don't misunderstand me. Clytemnestra is dangerous, maybe more dangerous than any witch or wizard alive, but she is still my grandmother's niece. If you think I will let any more member of my family be murdered, you are very, very wrong."

"She's… she's my cousin too," Scorpius said, his voice squeaking as he spoke. "I don't want her to die either." Halo stared at Scorpius in surprise. He had never called Cleo his cousin before, at least not that Halo had ever heard. Did that mean that he and Ted Lupin were cousins too, or second cousins or something? If they were, neither mentioned it. They were avoiding eye contact so obviously that it had to be deliberate.

There was another long pause as all eyes turned to Atalanta. Her face was completely impassive and then, strangely, she actually smiled. "You all misunderstand me," she said, laughing a strangely girly laugh that didn't suit her at all. "All I'm saying is there's no reason to even lock her up. She's just as dangerous in Azkaban as she is here, so unless you really do want to kill her it doesn't make sense to turn her over to the Ministry or anyone else. I think the safest place for her, oddly enough, is with Halo, who seems to be able to calm her down."

"Erm," Halo started to say, stunned that Atalanta actually agreed with him, but he didn't get a chance to speak.

"It's too risky," Cassy said firmly, far louder and more assertive than her brother. "She's much too dangerous to stay at Hogwarts.

"We may not know for certain that she'll be the one who causes the things in Halo's vision, but even if she's not she's still much too dangerous to be near Halo. After all, she just burned him… twice!" Rose added, clearly upset. Halo was a little bit touched that they were so concerned for him, but in this case they were just wrong.

"It was an accident, by all accounts," Sora said reasonably. "If Harry wishes to accept the risk, then I have no objection. I trust his judgement."

"So do I," Tommy said, earning him a glare from Heather. "And there's no evidence that she will be involved in the disaster we are trying to prevent. Just because she is a suspect most certainly doesn't make her guilty of anything."

Halo stared at the two of them in amazement, gratified beyond words. Tommy and Sora, of all people, really thought that highly of him. He was about to say thank you, but J.B. had other ideas.

"What's that old saying, play with fire and you're going to get burned? An uncle of mine once thought it was a brilliant idea to go buy a pet manticore," J.B. said in that tone he had which made it very hard to tell if he was joking or not. "It ended up mauling him death… by accident of course."

"Shut up, Grant," Shandra snapped angrily, "there's no way that happened."

"The point is actually a good one though," Rose said, sounding as if it pained her to agree with J.B. "Whether or she means to hurt Halo, or any of us, is kind of irrelevant if she can't control herself. She'll just do it again, and it might be worse."

"She-" Halo tried to say, but once again he was cut off by louder voices.

"There's no reason to jump to the conclusion that she's getting any worse," James said, taking the words right out of Halo's mouth. It was still really weird to think that they were actually in complete agreement. "This could just be a one-time slip up."

"You mean two-time slip up," Kevin corrected. "She nearly burned our common room down don't forget."

"There's no such thing as a two-time slip up," Cassy said, carefully avoiding Halo's gaze. "That's called a trend, and a bad one. This has to be stopped before it gets any worse."

"But-" Halo said, once again trying to assert himself into the conversation. Once again, the appointed leader of the group was ignored.

"Enough!" Atalanta said loudly, "This is pointless. We obviously won't reach a consensus about this. We just have to put it to a vote."

"A _vote_?" Cassy said, "you really want to put something so serious that could possibly decide the fate of the world to a vote?"

"Unless you have a better idea, Wiggins," Atalanta said. "It's the only fair way to decide. We've all heard the same information, and we all know what's on the line here. We have to reach a decision."

"But… but sh-shouldn't someone else decide this?" Annie asked in a quiet voice, "Someone, I dunno, a little bit older?"

"No, it has to be us," Albus said, speaking for the first time. "We were the ones who figured all of this out. No one else would believe our story, so they would just make the wrong decision because they don't have all the facts."

"You're right, Al," Ted said with a sigh. "I almost didn't believe you myself, because honestly my first instinct was that all this sounded like a made-up story a bunch of kids came up with. It's only because of this book here and the fact that I know what Clytemnestra can do that I believed you at all. Unfortunately, you can bet there's no way the Ministry would believe your story, not with evidence like that. At best you could hope they would investigate the possibilities, dragging their feet every step of the way, by which time it would be too late."

Everyone was quiet again, and one by one they all turned to look at Halo.

"Well?" James said obnoxiously, "How about it, leader? Do you want to call a vote?"

Halo tried not to let the words sting him, but they did. James was right, what kind of leader was he that he hadn't been able to get a word in the whole time? He was hopeless. He just nodded listlessly.

"This vote has to be binding," Tommy said, adjusting his glasses. "No matter what the result, as a group we have to all agree to go by what the majority decides, or there's no point. Lupin, there's no way to demand that you go along with the decision, but-"

"I'll go along with whatever you lot decide," Ted said, sounding tired. Halo couldn't be sure, but it seemed to him like Ted was too conflicted to want to make this decision for himself either way.

"Alright," Atalanta said, taking control like she so often did when Halo couldn't find the words. "All in favour of telling the professors what we suspect Clytmenestra Lestrange will do and telling them about what happened last night, raise your hand."

Hands went in the air, and Halo's head started to spin. He didn't want to count them, but he couldn't stop. Six… seven… eight… eight hands in all. Rose, Cassy, Heather, Charlie, Courtney, Kevin, J.B. and Sam all raised their hands.

"All in favour of continuing to keep it a secret and watching the girl closely while keeping her close by so we can step in if necessary, raise your hand."

Halo, Sora, Annie, Shandra, James, Tommy, Scorpius and Atalanta raised their hands. Eight again, the vote was tied… but that wasn't right, it couldn't be. There were seventeen of them, which meant someone hadn't voted.

"Al," Rose said quietly, immediately realize who it was. "You're the last one. It's up to you."

Everyone turned to look at Albus Potter, who looked very much like he wanted to run and hide. Halo desperately wanted Albus to vote no, but he kept quiet. He didn't want to put any more pressure on his shy friend, who disliked being the centre of attention.

"I-I don't know," Albus stammered, "I- uh…" His voice trailed off into a mumble. Albus looked lost for a few seconds, but then he seemed to find something deep inside himself. It was almost as if someone Halo couldn't see whispered words of encouragement in the boy's ear, and Albus finally found his resolve.

"I don't know what to vote," Albus said, his voice stronger than before, "I can I see both sides of the argument, and I can't choose between them. But… but there's one member of this group who didn't get a vote, someone who has been with us from the beginning. I decided to give my vote to Clytemnestra Lestrange, who should have been here to vote just like the rest of us. On her behalf, I vote no."

It was nine to eight in favour of no, and Halo exhaled so deeply that he almost fell over.

"Well, that's that," Ted said, glancing down at the book in his hands. "I don't know if that was the right thing to do, but I'll go along with it. Who knows, my suspicion about Clytemnestra might be wrong after all. It could be something else entirely, some kind of magic we don't know about. I'll translate this as soon as I can, just in case it can give some kind of clue about what-"

"Well screw this," Courtney interrupted angrily, clearly not ready to just move on. "I'm not letting that lunatic stay in Hogwarts. I'll tell them myself, if I have to."

"The vote was binding," Tommy said, turning his eyes to Courtney for the first time. "We all agreed to that."

Had it been anyone else, anyone at all, Halo knew that Courtney would have ignored them and told the professors. But it was Tommy, her estranged half-brother, and it seemed to Halo as though Courtney couldn't say no to him. Slowly, she nodded, dropping her eyes and falling silent.

"This is such a bad idea," Cassy said with a pronounced scowl on her face. "I can't believe we are actually going to let that girl walk around free with what's about to happen."

"Like I said, locking her up wouldn't make a difference," Atalanta said. "This way, at least, we can keep an eye on her and… intervene if we have to. If we send her away, there would be nothing we can do if she completely lost control."

Halo didn't like the sound of the way she said intervene—he didn't like it at all.

"I-I have to go find her," Halo mumbled, turning to leave. Cleo was all alone, and who knows what dark thoughts she might be thinking. He had to find her right away, before she did actually lose control of her powers and did something else without meaning to.

"But the feast is about to-" Annie started to say, but Halo couldn't care less. The feast… what did the feast matter? He knew Cleo wouldn't go where there was that many people, not after what had just happened. She would be somewhere else, somewhere where she could be alone. Without wasting any more time, Halo raced out of the library.

He hadn't gone far when he realized someone was following him. He turned around, and saw that it was Rose.

"What do you want, here to betray me again?" Halo snarled. Rose flinched, and in some small part of his mind he knew he was being unfair to her. She may just be doing this because she was worried about him, but it didn't matter. She had tried to get Cleo locked up, and he wasn't sure he could ever forgive her for that.

"Halo, listen to me…"

"Don't call me that."

"W-what?"

"I don't want you to call me Halo anymore," he said harshly, "not after you accused Cleo of being the one who's going to destroy us all with absolutely no proof. Out of everyone, I never thought you would try to do something like this." Maybe it was petty, saying she couldn't call him Halo and all that other stuff, but he was furious with her and meant for it to sting. Just one look at Rose's face was enough to show that it did.

"H-Harry, I'm sorry, I really am," Rose said miserably, tears forming in her eyes, "but I still think I'm right. I never really believed that she would be the one to set the sky on fire, it just doesn't seem likely, but that's not why I voted yes. Clytemnestra is dangerous, especially to you because you're always with her. You're going to get yourself hurt again or, or w-worse if you don't get away from her."

"You don't get it. I'm the only one who can calm her down, the only one who can help her stay in control."

"But you can't! it's not working!" Rose shouted, really starting to cry now. "How many times does she have to hurt you before you understand that she's not in control? Everyone else can see it, why can't you?"

Halo didn't respond, Rose clearly wasn't going to listen. Cleo was getting better, every day that went by proved that. Sure, there were days like yesterday when it was worse, but that was only because of the horrors Cleo had experienced in the past; horrors that Rose and the others did even bother to try and understand. But no matter how bad it got, Halo wouldn't give up on her. He would find a way to help her become the sweet, normal girl she was always supposed to be, no matter what.

"Do whatever you want to, Rose," Halo said, turning away from her and heading for the dungeon. "Just please don't get in my way. I'm going to go find Cleo."

Rose stayed where she was sobbing as he walked away. As he reached the staircase to go down, she shouted one last thing after him, which was barely understandable through her tears.

"What do you think is more likely, Harry? That everyone else is wrong, or that just you are?"


	40. Chapter 36

Chapter 36 Proof

Halo raced to the Slytherin common room, determined to find Cleo before he allowed himself to stop and think about anything else. It bothered him more than he cared to admit that he was fighting with Rose, so he decided to just not think about it for now. After all, he couldn't let himself become distracted. Finding Cleo came first, especially at a time like this when she was upset and alone. He had to find her as soon as possible.

The portrait of Professor Slughorn was dozing peacefully, and, just like always, he was not happy to be woken up from his nap.

"Again, Mr. Wiggins?" Professor Slughorn asked, aggrieved. "You're always waking me up at odd hours, coming and going as you please. All the other Slytherins are at the feast, and you should be too, my boy!" Professor Slughorn wagged his finger at Halo in disapproval.

"Wait, so Cleo… I mean Clytemnestra Lestrange hasn't come back to the common room?" Halo asked. Slughorn's portrait shook its head, moustache quivering, and Halo started to really worry. If she hadn't come back here and she wasn't in the library, where could she be?

"Alright well, bye, professor!" Halo called over his shoulder as he raced away, leaving the portrait dumbfounded. Professor Slughorn soon recovered, though, and not a minute later was dozing peacefully again. Halo, meanwhile, raced back to the main part of the castle, unsure of where to look. He knew that Cleo wouldn't be at the feast, not when every student in the whole school was there, but other than the great hall she could be anywhere. He really didn't have time to search the whole castle; he had to find her as soon as he could.

He needed to stop and think, so he decided to head to one of his favourite parts of the castle. It was nearly dark, meaning that it was too late in the day to go to his favourite hill overlooking the lake, so instead he headed up to the top of the Astronomy Tower, where he loved to sit and look out across the valley. Plus, who knows, Cleo might be up there too. It was a great place to clear your head and admire the view.

Halo ran up to the top of the Astronomy Tower, but when he arrived, exhausting and out of breath, Cleo was not there. It had been a longshot at best, but he had really hoped she would be up here. Halo sighed and sat down on the edge of the tower, legs dangling out into space. Cassy would be furious if she saw him sitting so close to the side, but then she always worried about him too much. Today was a perfect example of that. She had been willing to risk sending Cleo to Azkaban just because she might hurt him in some way, which, if you asked him, that was the very definition of overprotective.

As Halo watch the last rays of daylight fade away, he tried to think of what to do next. Honestly, though, he had absolutely no idea where Cleo might be. The only hope he had of finding her seemed to be to search the entire castle and hope he got lucky. After all, there were so many secret places in Hogwarts that it was nearly impossible to find someone who wanted to hide.

Still, he knew he had to try. She needed him.

Halo was about to start back down when he heard footsteps rushing up the stairs. He nearly fell backwards in shock when James Potter stepped out onto the Astronomy Tower. Halo managed to keep his balance, just barely, and he heart pounded loudly in his ears and he quickly scrambled away from the edge. From where he had been sitting, if he had fallen backwards he would have gone right over the edge and smashed into the rocky ground far below. Cassy, Atalanta and Rose would have been SO mad at him if he'd died in doing something so stupid that he knew they would have found a way to raise him from the dead just so they could kill him again.

"James? What are you-"

"We've got a problem," James said darkly, cutting him off. "A really big one." He was holding a big piece of parchment in his left hand, and gestured at it meaningfully. Halo was completely lost.

"Er, I don't… um, what?"

"Damn it, Wiggins, stop being so thick!" James said, clearly annoyed. "We don't have time for this. They have her… they have Clytemnestra."

"What do you mean, who has her?" Halo asked, his voice sounding calmer than he would have expected it to, given the situation.

"I'm not sure exactly," admitted James reluctantly, "but someone does. Here, look at this." He spread out the folded parchment he was holding, and as Halo looked at it he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The old piece of parchment that James had in his hands was actually a perfect map of Hogwarts, showing each part of the castle in great detail. Halo looked closely at the top of the Astronomy Tower, and was amazed to see two dots, one labelled James Potter and the other labelled Harry Wiggins.

"Wow," Halo said softly, "This is wick-"

"This is the Marauders Map, created by my grandfather and his friends when they were at school," James interrupted proudly. "My dad sent it to me with the Firebolt, and told me to keep an eye on things for him. I don't really know exactly what he meant by that…" James frowned, trying to puzzle out his father's cryptic message. He didn't waste much time thinking about it, though. After all, James Potter always preferred not doing too much thinking if he didn't have to.

"Whatever," James said before Halo could say anything. "We don't have time for that now. Here, look at this." He pointed to another part of the castle, the far end of the fourth floor where Halo had never been before. He didn't have any classed up there, and as far as he knew there was nothing interesting in that part of the castle. In one of the classrooms in that empty wing were a cluster of six dots, one of them clearly labelled Clytemnestra Lestrange.

"I don't recognize any of the other names," James said, squinting at the little dots as if he had trouble reading them, "and I don't think they're students. As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to come find you. Despite your many faults, Wiggins, I know that you're on her side like I am."

Halo nodded vaguely, only dimly aware that James had actually payed him a complement… sort of. He was too busy staring at one dots with a very familiar name floating above it. Anthony Goldstein it said, and Halo couldn't believe his eyes. Uncle Anthony was one of Uncle Terry's oldest friends, and Halo had known him and his daughters his entire life. Why was he with Cleo and a bunch of strangers in an empty part of the castle? In fact, it made no sense for him to be here at the school at all. Uncle Anthony wasn't a professor or anything, he worked at the…

"They're not students," Halo replied in a hollow voice. "It's the Ministry; the Ministry has her. I have to go."

"Wait, the Ministry?" James asked, stunned. "That's impossible! There's no way they could just come to the school in the middle of a feast and question a student on her own without a professor present. That would never be allowed!"

"You're right, it's wouldn't be allowed," Halo said in that same hollow tone, "but it's happening anyways." He could guess who was behind this, and cursed himself for being so careless and not seeing this coming. After all, Cassius Scrimgeour was known for putting the rules to the side when he went after dark wizards, or people he thought were dark wizards. Halo should never have assumed that he'd leave Cleo alone just because she was at school.

"James, I need you to go find a professor and tell them what is going on," Halo said firmly, hurrying across the Astronomy Tower towards the stairs. "They're the only ones who will be able to put a stop to this." He was still mad at himself, but he knew beating himself up would help Cleo now. He had to take action.

"Alright, sure, Wiggins," James said, surprising Halo by not arguing with him. "But, um, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to get them away from her," Halo said, his voice hard as steel. Without waiting for a response, Halo started running down the staircase, heading for the fourth floor.

"Wait, Wiggins, oi wait… Halo!" James called behind him. "Just what are you planning?"

Thankfully Halo was far enough down the stairs that he didn't have to give James a response, because honestly he didn't have one. He'd figure it out when he got there.

Halo sprinted the whole way there, and when he arrived at last by the old, abandoned classroom that he had seen on James's map he had to stop for a moment to catch his breath, or else he might have passed out. The door was closed, but he could hear voices coming faintly from inside. He didn't know what was going on, or why Uncle Anthony was involved in it, but he did know that whoever was in there was questioning Cleo in an isolated part of the castle, almost certainly without permission. He might only be an eleven-year-old first year student at Hogwarts, but he would take on the whole Ministry if he had to in order to keep her safe.

After all, Cleo had been through enough.

Halo took a deep breath and, without knocking, opened the door.

The classroom he entered had clearly not been used in a very long time, the desks and chairs were piled against the wall, and there was an old wastebasket lying upside down in the corner. Cleo was sitting in an old desk that had been moved into the middle of the room, staring down at her hands, which were clasped on top of the desk. Four wizards and one witch stood around her, and they immediately turned to look at him as he entered. Halo was surprised that he recognized more than one of them. Uncle Anthony he knew, of course, but he also recognized the young witch. She was one of the Aurors who had come to his house with the Minister of Magic over the summer when he had gotten permission to attend Hogwarts despite not getting a letter in the mail. Halo saw a small glimmer of recognition in her eyes as she frowned at him before looking over in the direction of another man he recognized—a thin man with light hair and glasses who had been there the night that Cleo had nearly been expelled. He had spoken out in protest when Ron was chosen as the final person to remain behind and decide whether Cleo would be punished or not. Halo didn't know his name, but he knew that he was one of Scrimgeour's lackeys, meaning this was exactly what Halo had feared it was.

"Who are you, what are you doing here?" Asked one of the other wizards dismissively, a tall man who Halo did not recognize. "This is a private Ministry matter, young man, you need to leave."

"Harry?" Uncle Anthony asked, staring at Halo in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

As soon as Uncle Anthony said _Harry_, Cleo looked up, her eyes finding Halo's immediately. Given the circumstances, he would have expected her eyes to have that dead, empty quality they had whenever someone treated her like this, but they didn't. Instead, she looked afraid. Her blue eyes flashed in warning, and Halo could tell instinctively that she wanted him to leave her, to get out of here right away. He ignored her. Now he just had to think of a way to get her out of this.

"Er, hello. The, uh, headmistress sent me here to inform you that you don't have permission to interrogate one of her students, and that you need to leave before there's a serious incident between Hogwarts and the Ministry," Halo said, lying as well as he could on the fly, which is to say not very well. He simply didn't have Rose's talent for that sort of thing. The adults hesitated for a second, but it was pretty clear he was lying.

"Harry Wiggins," the thin man said, adjusting his glasses with his right hand. "How nice to see you again. I'm afraid that your dear friend Clytemnestra will not be escaping justice this time, no matter what lies you come up with." He smiled thinly, and Halo realized he had, at long last, found someone that he immediately disliked more than Courtney. "After all, we have a professor's permission to be here."

Halo gaped at him in disbelief. They had permission to lead Cleo away to an isolated part of the castle and question her? Why would one of the teachers have given them permission to do that? Who would have done something like that?

"Lees, what are you talking about?" Uncle Anthony said, moving to stand in front of Halo, looking concerned and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I have known this boy his entire life, and he is no liar!" His words raised Halo's spirits for a second, but the feeling didn't last. If Uncle Anthony knew half the secrets he was carrying, he would have known Halo was most definitely a lair, just not a very good one.

"Harry, you can't be here right now. This is very serious," Uncle Anthony said quietly, trying, like Cleo, to get him to leave.

"I'm not going anywhere," Halo said, his voice squeaking. He was keenly aware that he sounded very much like silly child. This was not going well at all; it had seemed so much easier to stand up to five Ministry officials in his head.

"Harry-" Uncle Anthony began to say, determined to get him to leave.

"No, let the boy stay. His presence might be useful," the man named Lees said, staring at Halo with a look in his eye that made him feel very uncomfortable.

"Adam, that was not part of the agreement," the young witch said uncomfortably. "We don't really have permission to be here, at least not from the headmistress. Maybe we should just…"

"Enough, we are wasting precious time," snapped Adam Lees, adjusting his glasses and turning to glare at Cleo again. Uncle Anthony looked like he wanted to argue, but he stayed by Halo with a hand on his shoulder, looking at Adam Lees with an expression that looked very much like dislike. Halo was incredibly relieved to see it.

"Now tell us again, girl, where did you go this weekend? And tell the truth this time, you wouldn't want to lie in front of your little friend, would you?"

"I already said, I didn't go anywhere." Cleo responded quietly, staring at her hands, "I was in the library here at school all weekend."

"Which as you said yourself no one can confirm," the tall man who had spoken when Halo had entered the room.

"But that's where I was," Cleo said sounding close to tears. "It's the truth."

"Still you continue to tell lies?" Adam Lees said with a sigh, sounding disappointed. Halo kept quiet, not trusting himself to speak. Why were they asking about this weekend? How could they… they didn't know about that, did they? No, there was no way. "I suppose I can expect no better," Lees continued. "Lying is easy for a creature like you, isn't it?"

"Watch yourself, Lees," Uncle Anthony said, glaring at the man. "You agreed not to verbally abuse the girl, that was part of agreement you made with the Department of Education when you got us involved in this. I told the Director it was a mistake to trust the words of an Unspeakable."

"I agree, Lees," the last wizard said, an old man who had said nothing up to this point. "The Department of Mysteries informed my office in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement that they had proof that the girl that Director Scrimgeour is so obsessed with had violated wizard law and sent me to investigate with two Aurors, but I see no evidence to suggest that at all. All you have done as far as I can see is intimate a child. I don't know what you said to convince Director Scrimgeour, but I need to see some harder evidence than this before we will even consider charging this girl with any crimes."

"Don't worry, Savage, you will have your proof," Adam Lees said, unconcerned that his fellow ministry members were having second thoughts. He smiled humourlessly at Halo which made his skin crawl. Both Cassy and Uncle Terry had told him many stories about the Department of Mysteries and the Unspeakables who worked there, but they had always involved mad wizards doing crazy experiments with forbidden magic. He had never really believed them.

Now, after meeting Adam Lees, he did.

"You don't have any proof, because Cleo did nothing wrong!" Halo said, determined to speak up to prove to himself and everyone else that he wasn't afraid. His voice squeaked again as he spoke, which almost certainly gave away how scared he really was.

"On the contrary, Mr. Wiggins, we have all the proof we need," Adam Lees replied, smiling that same creepy smile. "Let me lay it out for you, and for my esteemed colleagues. On the morning of October 28th, the entrance to an abandoned magical research laboratory was discovered on the property of Mr. Oliver Wood. Mr. Wood informed the Ministry immediately, or so he claims, and provided sworn testimony to Ministry officials that he saw no one enter the laboratory before the Ministry arrived. However, a thorough search by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement revealed evidence that someone had almost certainly been down there earlier that day. That is correct, isn't it, Savage?"

"It is," Savage said slowly, "We found strong evidence to suggest that a Hogwarts student had been in the abandoned laboratory earlier that day. Furthermore, there was a school trip to Hogsmede that day, so there was plenty of opportunity for a student to enter the laboratory."

Halo managed not to gasp out loud, but just barely. The Ministry knew, they _knew _what he and the others had done. This was all his fault, none of the others would have ever gotten themselves into trouble if he hadn't-

"It was a torn piece of a witch's robe," Lees continued as Savage fell silent. "The stitching and size of the scrap clearly points to the robe belonging to a first-year witch, which means that whoever it belonged to not only did not have permission to enter the abandoned laboratory, they did not even have permission to leave the castle at all."

Halo tried to keep calm so as not to give anything away, but it was so hard to keep calm at a time like this. Luckily everyone was looking at Cleo and no one was really paying him much attention. If Lees was telling the truth, that meant they must have found a piece of Rose's robe which had been torn when they were all running from the golem. This was really bad. Even though Cleo was certainly innocent, since she hadn't even been there that day, there was no way that Halo could tell them all truth. He and Rose might be fighting, but there was no way he would ever betray her to the Ministry like that. What was he supposed to do? There had to be something…

"The Department of Education was made aware of the fact that there was some evidence that a first year might have been in Hogsmede that day," Uncle Anthony said, "but we were told that there was no way to determine who the student was and that the matter was closed."

"It was closed. Deputy Director Weasley made that decision herself," Savage said, frowning at Lees. Both Aurors said nothing, watching Cleo closely in case she did anything suspicious. She didn't, she just sat there shaking slightly with her eyes fixed on her hands. Halo stood with Uncle Anthony's hands on his shoulders, trying not breathe too loudly, worried that if he did everyone would somehow figure out that he was actually the one they were all looking for. No wonder Cleo had wanted him to leave. He probably should have listened to her.

"She did, but Director Scrimgeour took the matter the Department of Mysteries, and we were delighted to assist him," Lees said smoothly, smiling his false smile. "Our department works on so many different fields of cutting edge magic, and we just happened to have developed an experimental new device that allows us to trace the ownership of an object back to its original owner without fail."

"What?" Savage asked, frowning at the younger man is disbelief. "How can it possibly do that? I have never heard of such magic."

"That is because it didn't exist until very recently," Lees said, smiling proudly. He took out his wand and pointed it at a bag laying in the corner of the room. He murmured a spell that Halo couldn't hear with wave of his wand summoned a large device out of a bag that was far too small to possibly hold it without the help of magic. Halo had seen the five-sided metal pillar before, down in Vance's laboratory, but of course he couldn't admit that to anyone. What was it doing here now, and why did Adam Lees have it? Halo was too confused to make sense of very much, but he knew one thing for sure. This was very bad for him, for Cleo, and for all his other friends that they he had gotten involved in this. The Ministry knew what had happened, and it was only a matter of time before they were discovered and punished. Why had it turned out like this?

Halo had never meant for any of this to happen. He had just been trying to help.

"What is that device?" Uncle Anthony said, staring at it uneasily. Savage and the Aurors looked uncomfortable around the device too, but they didn't say anything. Cleo continued to ignore everything and everyone around her.

"It is a device that the Department of Mysteries created which, among other things, can determine the ownership of any object," Lees said, sounding very convincing even though Halo knew he was completely lying. Lees hadn't created the device, he had taken it a few days ago from Vance's laboratory. Why was he lying about that? Halo wished he could tell them all the truth, but that would mean admitting that he had broken school rules and snuck out of the castle, not to mention that he had used powerful magic in Hogsmede without permission, which was against the law. No, he couldn't tell the truth.

"How does it work?" The young female Auror asked curiously.

"It detects that which is unique to each and every witch and wizard, their blood."

"Their blood?" the Auror responded unnerved. "What do you mean?"

"Everyone's blood is unique, for one's cells are encoded with what muggles call DNA, which an utterly ridiculous name something that they barely understand. Unspeakables have been studying many of the same principles that muggles do with their so-called science, and we have made several discoveries that muggles can hardly dream of. One such discovery is that magical energy exists within a wizard's very blood, energy that is unique to each person."

Halo's mouth dropped open, but thankfully no one was looking at him. Magic in the blood… Blood magic. He was talking about blood magic! This couldn't be a coincidence, it just couldn't. Halo tried to put all the pieces together in his mind, but he didn't have much luck. So much was happening and his mind was so scattered that he couldn't make sense of it yet, and the others were still talking. Halo shook his head to clear it and focused on listening to everything as best he could so he didn't miss any clues. He could think about it later, when everything was less mad.

"Are you talking about some sort of pure-blood supremacist theory?" Uncle Anthony asked, sounding upset. Halo knew that Uncle Anthony's parents were both muggles.

"No, nothing of the sort, Goldstein," Adam Lees replied casually. "Such theories have long been disproven as prejudiced nonsense. I am muggle-born myself, so I would never propose such a ridiculous theory. Instead, my theory holds that magic exists in the blood of every witch and wizard, regardless of their birth. That magic is unique to the individual, a bit like a signature. That magical energy is transferred and gradually becomes imprinted on objects that a witch or wizards uses regularly, such as clothing. This machine is able to recognize the distinct patterns in someone's blood, and uses that information to determine the ownership of an object."

"This is unlike anything I have ever heard of in all my 60 years at the Ministry," Savage said, still looking very sceptical. "I simply cannot believe a new kind of magic just appeared overnight."

"Then let me show you," Adam Lees said with a false smile, "A simple test of this device will tell you confirm everything I have said, and will prove that the scrap of robe belongs to the girl sitting right over there. It will give all the evidence I need that the piece of robe belongs to Clytemnestra Lestrange and that the girl is guilty of violating wizarding law. It will give the Ministry the grounds to expel her and send to Azkaban where she belongs. As the ranking member here, the decision is yours, of course, Savage. Do you want to see the evidence or not?"

"No, you can't!" Halo shouted, but he was ignored. He wasn't sure why he was so afraid, after all the piece of robe obviously didn't belong to Cleo, so if Lees device actually did what he said it would prove she was innocent instead of guilty. Still, Halo didn't trust the man at all. Halo had seen the look of hatred in Lees's eyes before, and he knew that he would stop at nothing to get back at Cleo for something that she didn't even do. He would probably find some way to change the results and make Cleo seem guilty no matter what.

"I don't think this is a good idea, Orson," Uncle Anthony said to Savage. "We are stretching our rights as it is, and we most certainly didn't get permission to bring a strange device here or test it on the girl. There's no way of knowing what will happen."

The old wizard didn't say anything, considering them both for a while Halo held his breath, hoping desperately that he would say no.

"Fine, get on with it," Savage said at last. "If this is your evidence, we have to at least examin-"

There was an interruption as the door opened again and someone walked in without knocking, just like Halo had. For a fraction of a second Halo was certain that he was saved, that the headmistress and the professors had come to put a stop to this mad situation. His relief was premature, because the person who walked into the room was the one person who could actually make the situation _worse_.

"This is a private Ministry matter, girl," the tall Auror growled, sounding fed up with all the interruption. "You need to leave."

"No you need to leave, I need to stay," replied Rose Weasley, glaring at him with her hands on her hips and not an ounce of fear in her gaze. "I go to school here, you don't. Now leave Halo and Cleo alone."

Rose had never used that name before, in fact, no one but Halo had ever called her Cleo before, but Halo wasn't as excited about that as he would have normally been. As soon as Rose spoke, Cleo raised her eyes again, looking directly at Halo and clearly thinking the same thing he was. Rose had to leave right away, before they turned on that device and the Ministry found out exactly who that scrap of robe did belong to. Halo tried to signal her, but Rose ignored him stubbornly, glaring at each of the Ministry members in turn.

"Young lady, this a very important matter-" Savage tried to say, but Rose cut him off abruptly.

"I know," she said, "I heard the whole thing from the door where I was listening. You've got it all wrong. Cleo isn't the one you're looking for."

"What do you mean?" Uncle Anthony asked, while the others seemed to stunned by her unapologetic admission that she had eavesdropped on the entire conversation. "How can you know that?"

"Because _I'm_ the one you're looking for," Rose said, pulling up her robe a little and revealing a tear at the bottom that matched the scrap perfectly. She looked briefly at Halo, who was staring at her in disbelief, and smiled faintly.

Halo really hoped she knew what she was doing, because he had absolutely no idea.


	41. Chapter 37

Chapter 37 Seemed like a Good Idea at the Time

Rose stood in the centre of the room, looking around in defiance and daring someone to question her. Halo really did not think that was a very smart idea, given that she had just admitted to violating school rules and quite possibly even wizarding law. He wanted to help her somehow, but he wasn't sure what he could possibly do. At this point it seemed like a good idea to just stay quiet in situations like this. He did, however, move to stand next to Rose so she would know she wasn't alone. It wasn't much, but it was all he could think to do.

"Young lady, surely you don't mean…" Adam Lees began, looking flustered and upset for the first time. Clearly he had thought that he had set things up perfectly to frame Cleo for sneaking out of Hogwarts and have her expelled. He nearly had.

"Enough, Lees, be quiet. What is your name, young lady?" Savage said firmly, interrupting Lees, who looked furious for a second before adjusting his glasses and falling silent. Without another word he raised his wand and the machine that he had been so eager to use on Cleo returned went back into the bag on the far side of the room. Then he smiled that same creepy smile and turned his attention to Rose with an angry look in his eye.

"Rose Weasley," Rose said. For the first time since she'd entered the classroom, she seemed slightly nervous, almost as if she wasn't entirely sure this was a good idea. Well, Halo thought, she really should have thought of that _before_ she'd confessed.

Savage just nodded slowly, as if he had thought as much. Halo wasn't surprised that he recognized her. After all, Rose's parents were _a little_ famous. The other adults looked more surprised, and the young Auror witch actually gasped aloud, although she quickly tried to pass it off as a cough.

"You freely admit to leaving school grounds without authorization or permission, knowing that doing so violated school rules?" Savage asked, giving Rose a stern look that, while not unkind, clearly indicated that he was not impressed.

"Yes," Rose said, a little subdued.

"And this girl, Clytemnestra Lestrange was not with you?" Savage asked, sounding as though he just wanted to make absolutely sure.

"No one was with me, sir. I went alone," Rose said, her voice calm and steady as she lied to the group of senior Ministry members. Savage gave her a piercing look before nodding, seeming satisfied.

"Very well. This is a matter for the school to decide now. Tracy, inform the professor that we are grateful that he granted our request, and that our meeting with Ms. Lestrange is over." The young Auror nodded smartly and left the room. "It seems it was a false lead after all."

"But-" Lees said, looking at Cleo with hatred in his eyes.

"Enough, Lees," Uncle Anthony said. "It is clear at this point that Ms. Lestrange is innocent."

"Innocent?" Lees spat disparagingly, "don't make me laugh. The Lestrange family has so much blood on its hands that all the water in England couldn't wash away their sins. Mark my words, girl. I swear on the souls of my parents that one day I will-"

"You might not want to finish that sentence, Adam," said a calm voice from the doorway, and Halo spun around to stare at Professor Mason. "I let you talk to the girl, as a favour, but I told you not to threaten my student. Now it is time for you to leave." Professor Mason sounded very calm, almost bored, but he was holding his wand in his hand. He wasn't doing anything threatening, but Halo could feel the tension in the room.

"Orpheus, my old friend," Adam Lees said, adjusting his glasses again and smiled faintly at Professor Mason to break the tension. "Thank you again for your help."

Halo stared in disbelief. _Old friend_? Lees had to joking, didn't he?

"Of course, old friend," Professor Mason said, replicating Lees humourless smile. "I am so very sorry to hear you didn't get what you came for."

"As am I," Lees said, glancing briefly at Halo and Rose with undisguised anger in his eyes, or maybe it was hatred. Halo had never had anyone give him a look like that, and he couldn't help taking a nervous step backwards. After all, Lees was a fully trained member of the Ministry of Magic, while he was just an eleven-year-old boy.

Rose, on the other hand, stayed right where she was and paid Adam Lees's look back with interest.

"Professor," Savage said, bowing to Professor Mason and looking a bit guilty as he left, followed by the Aurors. Uncle Anthony stood in the doorway, and it seemed to Halo as if he was waiting to make sure Lees left with him. Given the look he'd seen in Lees eyes, Halo was grateful.

In the end, though, Lees left without another word to the children. He didn't even glance back at them as he walked past Mason, clapping the man affectionately on the shoulder like an old friend, meaning it was clearly not an act.

"That young lady made a very interesting announcement just a moment ago," Lees said, gesturing in Rose's direction. "Sneaking out of school is not something that Hogwarts tolerates, if I remember correctly, and I trust that the school will take the appropriate disciplinary action. I can understand why someone in her…_ position_ would seek attention, but reckless behaviour like that is very dangerous for any child, no matter how famous."

"The punishment of students is the discretion of the Hogwarts staff. It has nothing to do with you, Lees," Uncle Anthony said sharply while Professor Mason said nothing, staring over at Rose without blinking. Rose looked truly upset and flustered for the first time, and she dropped her eyes in confusion and embarrassment.

"Of course, I trust that Orpheus and his colleagues will handle the matter appropriately." Lees smiled thinly again, and then, finally, he was gone. Uncle Anthony, Professor Mason, Halo, Rose and Cleo waited in silence for a few moments before they exited the old classroom too and stood in a semicircle the empty hallway. Adam Lees was nowhere in sight, and Uncle Anthony breathed a small of relief before turning to face Halo and Rose.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Harry, Rose," Uncle Anthony said. "I never thought that he would try to go so far." He paused, frowning at Halo with a slightly confused look on his face. "Which reminds me, what in Merlin's name are the two of you even _doing_ here?"

"Well, we were heading to the feast, but we realized that our friend Cleo wasn't with," Rose lied smoothly, giving Uncle Anthony a winning smile. "Harry and I thought that was a little odd, so we went to try and find her."

"It probably would have been best if you hadn't," Professor Mason said quietly, eyes boring into Rose. "You're in rather a lot of trouble, young lady." Rose's smile faltered, and she dropped her head again.

"Oh yeah, and what were you thinking letting your old mate go after Cleo like that, _professor_?" Halo snapped angrily. He normally would not have talked to a professor like that, especially not the head of his house, but he was just so angry. Mason had betrayed Cleo by letting his crazy pal in the Ministry interrogate her in secret, and now he was going after Rose too. It was unforgivable.

"You're right, Harry," Professor Mason said calmly while Uncle Anthony looked shocked, as if he couldn't believe Halo had said something like that. "I did let the Ministry talk to the girl at the request of a very old friend of mine, but only because I knew as well as you did that Ms. Lestrange was innocent. She didn't leave the school that day, Ms. Vance confirmed that she was in the library all day. I tried to tell the Ministry as much, but they were rather… reluctant to take my word for it. The Ministry can be annoyingly persistent when it comes to these sort of things, and it was logical to let them investigate the girl thoroughly in this situation where she clearly did nothing wrong. It will help her seem less suspicious in the long run, which will be to her advantage."

That was all nice and logical, exactly the way that a member of Slytherin House was supposed to think, but Halo didn't like it. It was a big risk, especially since…

"It was a trap," Rose said quietly, "They were going to find her guilty no matter what. That's why I spoke up. I might be in a lot of trouble, but I know I won't be kicked out for doing something like this. Cleo, on the other hand, has already been warned, and would have been taken away by the Ministry on the spot for stepping out of line. That was his plan."

"How?" Mason asked sceptically, "Adam had no evidence of any kind."

"He claimed the Department of Mysteries was working on some sort of machine that traces magic using blood," Uncle Anthony explained uneasily. "He said he was going to use it to prove the girl was guilty. And we probably would have fallen for it, too."

"What do you mean?" Mason asked, surveying Uncle Anthony with steady, unblinking eyes.

"Well, none of us had ever seen that machine before, or even heard of it," Uncle Anthony said, "but that's pretty common when it comes to the Department of Mysteries. They work with forces none of us know anything about. Lees said that the machine could prove the torn piece of robe belonged to the girl, and we all believed him. If I had to guess, I'd say the machine is probably a fake that doesn't do anything at all. It probably just spins around or emits some sort of light when Lees activates it. He was going to fake the girl's guilt and give Savage reason to arrest her. Savage has been in Magical Law Enforcement for a very long time, and he lost a lot of friends battling Death Eaters—more than most. He's a just man, but in this instance the past probably would have clouded his judgement just enough and he would have taken the girl in if Rose hadn't stepped in and stopped it."

Mason was silent for a time, his face unreadable. "It seems that I miscalculated," he said, sounding angry. "I knew that Adam hated the Lestranges because of what happened to his parents, but I never dreamed he would abuse his power like this." Halo had never seen Professor Mason angry before. It was a scary sight. Mason turned to Rose and said, "I am grateful that you stepped forward when you did Ms. Weasley. While the Ministry would never have been able to convict the girl of any wrongdoing based on a fabrication, they certainly could have arrested her, which would have been very bad for all of us. Hogwarts would have been able to free her eventually, but not easily." He bowed to Rose, who, after a confused glance at Halo, hesitantly bowed back.

"This is crazy!" Halo said, still angry at Mason for this whole situation. Miscalculated? You bet he had. "How could the Ministry let something like this happen? Why don't they prevent people from doing these sorts of things?"

"Unfortunately it can't be helped. Our world cannot function without an element of trust, Harry," Uncle Anthony said patiently. "Witches and wizards are all too powerful individually to be fully kept under control. Just think about it. If any witch or wizard went on muggle television and broadcast our existence to the entire world, what could the magical governments around the world really do about it? Yes, they could modify memories, but they would have to change the minds of every living muggle, and that would be a massive undertaking. Even if they did manage to cover it up once, they do not have the resources to keep covering it up again and again, so in the end they have to rely on everyone being personally responsible. The Ministry has to rely on trust, and unfortunately that means that it can be abused from time to time, like it was here. You did well to recognize the trap for what it was, Rose, and protect your friend knowing you would be punished. It was very brave; your parents would be proud of you."

"Thank you Mr. Goldstein, but actually I'm pretty sure Mum is going to kill me for this," Rose said anxiously.

"Hermione is rather frightening when she's angry," Uncle Anthony said with a sad smile, "I'll tell you this, though. I've known your mother a very long time. We were at Hogwarts together and fought side by side in Dumbledore's Army. She would be proud of what you did today." Rose smiled, but Uncle Anthony was not done yet. "Of course, she would be furious that you snuck of school on Saturday in the first place, so unfortunately, I think you're right. You are going to be in a whole lot of trouble, Rose, and I can't really say I would blame Ron and Hermione. I would be upset myself if my daughters had done something like this."

Halo and Rose exchanged quick looks, immediately deciding not to mention Heather Goldstein's involvement with their group. They were in enough trouble as it was.

"Well, I really must be going," Uncle Anthony said. "I have to go back and report to my Director about this… mess. I was glad to see both of you, although I wish it were under better circumstances. Do try to stay out of trouble, you two."

"We will, Uncle Anthony."

"Thank you for everything, Mr. Goldstein."

Uncle Anthony waved again, and then he too turned around the corner and was gone, leaving just Professor Mason, Halo, Rose and Cleo, who had said nothing in ages.

"Ms. Weasley, despite your commendable efforts to protect Ms. Lestrange from injustice, you are still guilty of violating school rules, and unfortunately I must bring you to see the head of your house and the headmistress," Professor Mason said, and Rose visibly gulped. "I will gladly speak on your behalf, but I am very likely in as much trouble as you are for letting the Ministry come here tonight, which really means I am in no position to lecture you."

"Well then why did you do it?" Rose asked, displaying her usual tendency to ask whatever question was on her mind without considering whether asking it was a good idea. Halo was a little nervous that Professor Mason might be upset, but he wasn't.

"Like you, I thought it was a good idea at the time," Mason said with a wry smile, "but I turned out to be wrong. Adam's hatred proved even deeper than I thought, and my mistake was almost disastrous. Be thankful that you are still young, for your mistakes are still easy to correct. Well, no matter, come along, Ms. Weasley."

"C-can I talk to Halo and Cleo for a second?" Rose pleaded, looking anxious. Professor Mason hesitated for a second before saying, "Of course. I will wait for you at the end of the hall." He nodded to the students and walked away, leaving just the three of them.

"Rose-"

"Halo-"

"I wanted to say-"

"Let me go first, Halo."

"But…"

"I have something I want to say," Rose said firmly, reaching out and putting her hand on his arm. "Please? You can talk after I'm done." She sounded so earnest that Halo had no choice really, he nodded and fell silent. After all, if Rose wanted to talk, then you can be sure she was going to talk. It was as simple as that.

"I wanted say I'm sorry," Rose said reaching up to rub her eyes as if she were close to crying.

"No, Rose, I'm the one who-"

"Halo, if you don't shut up I am going to curse you," Rose said, drawing her wand and pointing it at him. She didn't sound like she was kidding.

"Erm, right, got it. Go on."

"I'm sorry, both of you," Rose said, speaking to Cleo as well, who looked at her for a second in surprise before dropping her eyes again. "There are just so many stories going around about you, Cleo, and everyone is so afraid of you that I got caught up in the fear. All my classmates, the teachers, the Ministry, and even the other Slytherins are scared of you, and that made me scared too. But Halo wasn't afraid, he trusts you completely. That should have been good enough for me, but it wasn't. Even though I had promised myself that I would trust in him, that I would trust all of my friends, I just couldn't. I was too afraid… some Gryffindor I am." She rubbed her eyes again with her left hand, and this time she did brush away some tears. Halo wanted desperately to say something to cheer her up, but he kept his promise and stayed quiet. Plus, she was still holding her wand.

"Halo, do you remember when we were in Hogsmede, and I was angry with you because you hadn't told me and Albus that Lily was involved in all this?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, I remember."

"Do you remember what you said; what you promised me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Halo thought for a moment. "I said that we were in this together."

Rose nodded, smiling despite the tears that kept trickling out of her eyes despite her best efforts to stop them. "That's right. We're in this together. I was so happy when you said that, but I completely forgot what that really means. I was mad at you for not trusting in me, and then just a few days later I go behind your back and don't trust in your judgement. I tried my best to get Cleo expelled, all because I was scared. I'm such an idiot."

"Rose, you're not-" Halo started to say, but he stopped suddenly in surprise as Cleo moved past. She slowly reached out and put a hand on Rose's shoulder.

"You're not an idiot," Cleo said quietly. "You saved me, even though you're going to be in a lot trouble now. I wanted to say thank you."

"I-it's okay," Rose said, staring at Cleo in surprise. "Actually, you shouldn't be thanking me. I should have tried to get to know you better. I tried a little bit, back when you and Halo first became friends, but I was still afraid and I just gave up. And even though we sit together during potions and formed THOMAC together and everything, I still barely know you at all. If I had just… if I had been a little braver, I would have realized I don't have be afraid of you."

"You're wrong," Cleo said, her eyes fixed on the floor. "Both of you are. Atalanta and your sister and the others are right. I'm just an accident waiting to happen." Her eyes found Halo's for a moment, and he saw that they were dark and dead. "You should be scared of me."

"Cleo!" Halo said, alarmed by the look, "that's not-"

"Show me your arm," Cleo commanded quietly.

"That was an accident, that really doesn't matt-"

"Halo, show me your arm," repeated Cleo firmly, holding his gaze with her dark, dead eyes. Slowly, he did what she asked, showing her his burned arm.

"L-look you shouldn't feel bad," Halo said as cheerfully as he could. "Like I said, it was just an accident, a-and it doesn't even hurt anymore."

Halo was a bad liar, and he proved it once again.

"Halo, Rose, can you two do something for me?" Cleo asked, glancing briefly over at Rose before dropping her eyes to stare at her feet again.

"Sure," Rose and Halo both said in rapid succession.

"Stay away from me, both of you," Cleo said quietly, not looking at them. "And keep the others away too. That shouldn't be too hard, since they mostly know to avoid me anyways. It's only until the winter holidays, when the headmistress said I don't have to come back if I don't want to."

"W-what do you mean?" Halo asked, completely stunned. "You're going to leave Hogwarts? But you can't! I mean, d-don't you want to be here?"

"Not anymore," Cleo said quietly, and without another word she brushed past them and headed back down the corridor.

"Cleo!" Halo called after her, very upset. He was about to follow her, but Rose grabbed his hand, holding him fast.

"Let her go for now," she said gently, "She's been through a lot. We'll find her later and talk some sense into her. There's no way we'll let Cleo give up like that. Okay, Halo?"

"A-alright," Halo said slowly, squeezing her hand hard for reassurance. What a mad day it had been, and not at all fun, even though it was a holiday. This was by far the worst Halloween he'd ever had.

What Cleo had said really worried him, but Rose was right. She just needed a little space. Plus, Rose was in serious trouble herself, and right now he had to be there for her. "Let's, um, go find Professor Mason, right Rose?"

"Right," Rose said unenthusiastically. She was clearly nervous, how could she not be, so he decided to just keep her talking as they slowly went down the hall.

"By the way, how did you _really_ know where to find me?" Halo asked.

"Well, after our… disagreement I went down to the feast, but I was pretty miserable. James wasn't there, and neither were you, and I didn't want to be there either so I didn't stay long. Albus said I should just go talk to you and apologize, so I got up and left."

"Al said that?" Halo asked, a little surprised.

"Yeah, he's actually pretty good at giving advice," Rose said with a little smile. "Anyways, I didn't know where you were, but I got lucky and when I started up the staircase to look for you I saw you running down the stairs, heading for the fourth floor, so I just followed you. When I heard what was happening in the classroom, I knew I had to do something. It was a clearly a trap, so..."

"So you followed behind me," Halo said, nudging her shoulder with his. "Stalker."

"You're welcome," Rose shot back, nudging him back twice as hard, almost knocking him over. _Glad she's feeling better,_ he thought as he rubbed his aching shoulder.

They reached the end of the hallways where Professor Mason was waiting, watching them impassively.

"You should get down to the feast, Harry," Professor Mason said. "You might make it in time for dessert."

Halo didn't much care about dessert, but he nodded politely. "Don't worry, Rose," Halo said cheerfully. "I'm sure it'll all be just fine."

It wasn't.

Halo didn't see Rose again until DatDA class the following morning, when she told him in a subdued voice that Professor Evergreen and Headmistress Sprout were furious with her, that she had detention every weekend in November and that she'd lost Gryffindor fifty points. "Worst of all," she added mournfully, "They told Mum. "

Hermione's Howler arrived Thursday morning with the rest of the morning mail, although Halo didn't notice it at first. He always kept his head down when the owls arrived with the mail so he didn't see the large red envelope until Rose open it.

It was loud and very, very long. Halo had never heard a Howler before, but he didn't expect the letter to shout at Rose in her mother's voice about following the rules and personal responsibility for quite so long. Many of the other students (and nearly all of the Slytherins) started laughing, but Halo was not among them. Rose had done the right thing helping Cleo; she didn't deserve this.

Rose was upset all day, and she wasn't the only one. The teachers and many of the students kept reminding Halo in nearly every class not to push himself too hard practicing magic so that he didn't pass out, which was infuriating. Then there was Cleo, who hadn't spoken a word to anyone since Halloween, and ignored Halo and Rose whenever they tried to talk to her. It was clearly not just a passing phase, and that was what worried Halo the most. After everything that Cleo had gone through to get this far, he wasn't going to just her give up and go home to sit around alone. Halo told her as much after Charms on Thursday, but she walked away towards Defence Against the Dark Arts without responding or even looking at him.

DatDA was the last class of the day on Thursday, and everyone seemed thoroughly miserable. Professor Clearwater didn't help much, giving them pages and pages of notes to read about the principles behind casting a shield charm, which Halo couldn't care less about. After all, he'd cast a perfect _Protego_ charm his first night at Hogwarts, thanks to his unusually powerful abilities that came from his lack of Trace. Of course, he couldn't tell anyone that, so he was stuck letting them think he was about to fall over at any moment. It was just the tiniest bit frustrating.

So, instead of listening or paying attention, Halo thought about Adam Lees. He hated Cleo, that much was clear, but Halo felt like there was something else. Lees's plan just didn't make that much sense. After all, if the machine he had tried to use on Cleo only faked her guilt, then the truth would have come out eventually, at which point he would be in serious trouble for lying. There had to be something else going on, something Halo was missing.

Professor Clearwater cleared his throat meaningfully and looked at him, and Halo figured he must have been gazing off into space pretty obviously. Halo stammered and apology and focused on the class for a few minutes, but his attention didn't stay there, and his mind soon wandered back to other things.

Blood magic... what was it exactly? Halo hadn't gotten a chance to see Ted Lupin before he left, but James and Rose said that he had promised to send them an owl as soon as he got back the Academy and started deciphering the runes. They still didn't know anything about it, but for some reason Adam Lees did. It just couldn't be a coincidence. It most likely meant that…

Halo sat bolt upright, moving so fast that people laughed at him, thinking he had been sleeping and suddenly jerked awake. But that wasn't it at all. Of course! How had he not seen it before! His wand had been the one which had guided him to the book on blood magic, and, according to Madame Fleur his wand guided him towards knowledge because its core came from a Sphinx who he had never met but apparently would someday. He still didn't quite get that part, but that didn't really matter. What mattered was that his wand had vibrated to guide him to blood magic, just like it had vibrated to guide him to Lily's vision of the terrible future. The two were connected, he already knew that, but there was more to it than that.

Adam Lees was going to set the sky on fire, Halo just knew it. He and the Department of Mysteries were behind this. After all, Uncle Anthony had said that Unspeakables worked with magic no one else understood. They must be looking into blood magic, and were going to use it to do terrible things. He had to stop them…somehow.

The end of class couldn't come fast enough, and the last five minutes seemed to drag on for hours. Finally, Professor Clearwater let them go (but only after giving them far too much homework, naturally), and Halo immediately hurried over to where Rose and Albus were sitting.

"Rose, Rose I figured it out," Halo said excitedly. She blinked at him without understanding, still upset from the Howler that morning.

"Figured what out?" Albus asked, confused.

Halo shared his theory with them as they left the classroom, heading out to enjoy the sunshine by the lake. Neither of them had the reaction he was hoping for.

"I-I-'m not sure about this," Rose said quietly, clearly reluctant to disagree with him. They hadn't talked about their argument much, but they both still felt guilty. Halo wanted Rose on his side, but he didn't want her to agree with him if she thought he was wrong.

Of course, he wasn't wrong. They would all see it.

"So you're saying the_ Ministry_ is going to set the sky on fire?" Albus asked, far more open in his scepticism. "I'm sorry, Halo, you know I trust you, but I think you're just wrong this time."

"Not the Ministry, just the Department of Mysteries," Halo said stubbornly. "Rose, you heard it yourself. They work with magic no one else understands. You heard Lees mention blood magic."

"I dunno," Rose said, not meeting his eye. "He never actually used the words blood magic, so it might be unrelated. And I know he was creepy, but I don't think he wanted to destroy the world, just-just Cleo."

Halo shook his head in disbelief, but he didn't argue with her. He hated arguing with anyone, but Rose most of all. It was even worse than arguing with Cassy, which he also hated doing. Just thinking about that made him scowl. It seemed like Cassy had avoided him since Halloween, just like Cleo. It was probably just as well. After all, he had nearly gotten them all in huge trouble by sneaking around. Since that night, he'd been thinking maybe THOMAC wasn't such a good idea after all. Maybe he should just try to do this with just Rose, and maybe Al if he wanted to help too. Honestly he didn't want to get them involved either but it was too late for that.

After all, he'd promised Rose they were in this together.

"We have to at least check it out, right?" Halo pressed, and Rose and Albus exchanged glances. Clearly they were hoping he would just let this go, but he wasn't going to.

"I guess that makes sense," Rose said, "But how exactly are we supposed to investigate the Department of Mysteries. _Mystery_ is in the actual name, Halo."

"Well, our parents are in the Ministry, so they might be able to check it out, but I don't know what we'd tell them to look for," Albus said. Halo noticed that he always had faith that his dad would have all the answers he needed. Then again, since his father was Harry Potter, Halo thought that kind of made sense.

"Mum's pretty pissed at me, and your Dad hates the Department of Mysteries," Rose said, shaking her head. "I heard my parents talking about it once. I don't really know why, but I think something bad happened there."

"W-well, there must be-" Halo started to say, unwilling to give up.

"I could help," came a voice behind them, and they whirled around. Scorpius was standing a few feet away, watching them nervously.

"Blimey, don't scare us like that, Scorpius," Halo muttered, although he wasn't really mad. Scorpius had a pretty tough time in Slytherin since a lot of the other kids liked to bully him. While Halo didn't necessarily get on with him that well, he felt bad for him.

"What do you mean?" Albus asked, watching Scorpius warily. Halo didn't know how well the two knew each other, but they always seemed slightly awkward whenever they were around each other. Halo didn't know much about it, but he knew their two families had a long complicated history.

"I think I know a way to investigate the Department of Mysteries," Scorpius said. "My father could do it, and he might be willing if I ask him."

"Your father?" Rose asked in disbelief, "Could he really?"

"He has a lot of old connections, even though my family…" Scorpius trailed off, but none of the others needed him to finish that sentence to know what he meant. The Malfoys had served Voldemort for a long time, and everyone knew it. Although they stop serving him in the end, Halo knew that some people were still upset they hadn't been punished more harshly.

"Would he do it?" Halo asked. He didn't want to involved Scorpius or anyone else in this anymore, but he didn't have a lot of options right now. He had to prove that he was right.

"I dunno," Scorpius admitted, "but I could ask."

Draco Malfoy's response came on Saturday morning, when an enormous owl landed in front of Scorpius and nearly gave Halo a heart attack. He dropped his fork, which bounced over to the other side of the table. Cleo reached down silently and picked it up, handing it back to him without saying a word or looking at him.

"Thanks, Cleo," Halo said.

Cleo didn't respond in any way.

Scorpius read the letter nervously, refusing to show anyone. Halo had not told the other Slytherins what was going on, and Sam and the others looked a little confused.

"Well?" Halo asked, after Scorpius was done reading.

"H-he'll do it, although he isn't pleased," Scorpius said quietly. "He said that if this was some sort of childish nonsense I'm going to be in very deep trouble. He says stuff like that a lot."

"I'm sorry, Scorpius, I should have thought of something else," Halo said guiltily.

"No, it's fine, it was my idea," Scorpius said, still sound a little scared. "Plus, it… well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.


	42. Chapter 37 and a half

Chapter 37.5 Purple Flowers

Lily recently learned a new word—frantic. It meant being really worried or scared, but not being able to do anything about it. November was slipping away, and Lily was running out of time. Oxalion had said they had until the end of the year to save the world, and that seemed a whole lot closer in late November than it had in the middle of September. The bad future was getting closer every day, and she couldn't do a thing about it. She hoped that Halo and her brothers and their friends were doing something to stop it, but she had no way of knowing what they were up to. Even Oxalion had stopped visiting her in her dreams, which she had thought she would be really happy about until it happened. Sure, she was sleeping better recently, but she felt like she had no idea what was going on at all. She hated that feeling more than she had ever hated anything ever.

Stupid James was no help. None at all. He and Al wrote letters home to Mum and Daddy sometimes, but they never said anything Lily cared about. Lily knew that her brothers had be all sneaky-like to keep their parents from finding out what they were up, but she still found it irriatating. That was another new word she'd learned recently, and she really liked it. After all, she was irriatated and frantic a whole bunch these days.

Thursday, November 23rd started no different than any other day. Lily was not happy. She made an angry face at the oatmeal Mum had made her for breakfast. She hated oatmeal. Everyone hated oatmeal. Why did oatmeal even exist, when everyone hated it? It was stupid. Everything was stupid. Lily was not happy.

Lily focused all of her thoughts on the bowl in front of her, trying to use magic to change it into something else—something like chocolate ice cream. Lily didn't hate chocolate ice cream. No one hated chocolate ice cream. Well, except her cousin Hugo, but that was just because he was so weird. Anyways, it didn't matter. Lily needed to focus, otherwise she could never hope to use her magic.

She focused as hard as she had ever focused on anything in her entire life, but it didn't work. Lily sighed theatrically and took a bite of oatmeal, heroically managing not to throw up. Lily hated throwing up, so even when she was sick she tried as hard as she could not to. She hadn't thrown up in ages and ages, and she was quite proud of that. Anyways, she could never use magic when she wanted to, probably because she didn't have a wand of her own. It just wasn't fair that she had to sit at home with no one telling her anything while her brothers and all her cousins and Halo and the others were all at Hogwarts, eating whatever they wanted and working hard to save the world. It was the worst.

If Lily had had any money to bet, she would have bet it all that no one had ever been more irriatated in the whole history of forever. Sadly, there was no one around to take that bet.

"You seem down, Lily-Bean," Mum said, sitting down across from her with her own bowl of oatmeal. Lily scowled and didn't respond, instead she just attacked her food with her spoon, as if it offended her somehow… which of course it had… just by existing.

"Do you want to visit your Aunt Luna later?" Mum asked, seemingly determined to cheer her up, but Lily knew it was just a trick. She wouldn't fall for it. She loved her Auntie Luna, but ever since Evey had stopped coming to Auntie's day-care it just wasn't the same. Lily made a face, shook her head in irriatation, and went back to attacking her oatmeal with her spoon.

"Are you sure, dear?" Mum asked, sounding hopeful. Lily shook her head forcefully, refusing to change her mind. She had no particular reason to be stubborn, but that just made her more determined to be so. It just made her feel better, somehow. Was that bad? Lily wasn't sure.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped," Mum said, mostly to herself. "Your Uncle Ron and I are going to London today, so you stay here and be good, okay, Lily-Bean?"

"What are you going to London for?" Lily asked immediately, putting down her spoon, all thoughts of oatmeal forgotten.

"Just some grownup stuff," Mum said, trying to act all sneaky-like. It didn't fool Lily, though. Not for a second.

"I want to go too," Lily said firmly, leaving no room for argument. Rather, she thought she'd left no room for argument. Apparently Mum wanted to argue anyways.

"Lily, dear, this isn't-"

"I want to go too!" Lily repeated, much louder. Ginny Potter took stock of the situation and seemed to recognize that she had no hope of winning this particular fight. She frowned slightly and said, "Alright, dear, I suppose you're old enough to come along this time."

Lily grinned and hopped out of her chair, sprinting upstairs to get ready. Today was clearly going to be an awesome day. How had she not seen it earlier?

Uncle Ron came about an hour later, by which time Lily was already bored and ready to go. Grownups always took forever to do everything, but Lily didn't know why. After all, they could apparate and use magic and fly and everything, so why were they always so late? It didn't make sense.

Then again, maybe it was just Uncle Ron. That made much more sense.

For some reason, Uncle Ron came with flowers. They were purple and very pretty, but Lily didn't know what they were called. As she ran over to give her uncle a great big hug she breathed in deeply. Lily liked flowers—she liked the way they smelled, and these ones reminded her of spring time and warm things. She'd had more than enough of winter, and it hadn't even really started yet! She wondered why it couldn't just be spring and summer all the time. Whatever the reason, it was probably stupid.

"Hey there, Tiger-Lily," Uncle Ron said as he hugged her back. "How's my favourite magical beastie feeling?"

That was how Uncle Ron always said hello, and Lily knew what to do in response. She crouched down and raised her hands over her head, pretending they were great big claws.

"RAAWRRR!" Lily roared fiercely, and Uncle Ron took several steps backward in fright. Well, he was just pretending—Lily knew that of course—but she giggled anyways. Uncle Ron always made her laugh.

"Aren't you a little old for that, Lily, dear?" Mum asked, coming down the stairs looking unusually serious. She was holding flowers too, although hers were blue instead of purple. Lily wondered what was going on.

"Don't listen to her, little beastie," Uncle Ron said, wagging his finger at his sister, who didn't seem to be in the mood for it. "She's just a boring old witch."

"Rawarrr," Lily yapped in agreement, nodding her head in case the silly humans couldn't understand her.

"Ron, cut it out," Mum said wearily. She didn't sound angry; it was more like Mum was really sad. Lily immediately stood up, no longer pretending to be a beastie. Whatever was going on seemed too important to be playing around.

Uncle Ron smiled sadly and said, "You're right, of course, Ginny. I was just…"

"I know," Mum said in a gentler voice, but she looked even sadder than before. "But… well, let's just go."

Lily thought for a moment that they were going to take her for a side-along apparate, or whatever it was called, but they didn't. Instead, they went by Floo powder, which Lily was not happy about. She hadn't travelled by Floo powder since Auntie Hermione had taken her back from Hogwarts, and she couldn't help feeling guilty as she took out a (small) handful of powder. Uncle Ron, of course, wasn't helping.

"No side trips, right, Tiger-Lily?" Uncle Ron said, giving her a big wink. Lily scowled and dropped her eyes in embarrassment while Mum just rolled her eyes and tried not to look annoyed. She failed. After all, even Lily noticed.

"You first, dear, just say Leaky Cauldron, nice and clearly," Mum said. "It's the closest fireplace to where we're going."

Lily still had no clue what was going on, but she did as she was told. Soon enough she was standing in the brightly lit parlour of the Leaky Cauldron. She loved the place, she had used to visit all the time when Uncle Neville and Aunt Hannah owned it, but that was years and years ago. Well, three years… but three years is a long time! They had sold it when Lily was six when Uncle Neville had started working at Hogwarts. From what Lily understood, the people who owned it now were also old friends of her parents, but they weren't around when she stepped out of the fireplace. The place was empty except for a tired looking young waitress, an old warlock sitting at the bar picking fish bones out of his teeth (which was super gross) and three hooded figures that sat at a table in the back, talking quietly. Lily was always amazed by all the different kinds of people that came to the Leakey Cauldron, and when she and her brothers used to visit they had spent hours and hours sitting at one of the tables and just watching everyone, trying to guess who they were and what they were doing. Thinking back on it made her miss her brothers really, really bad. She knew what Al would say about the three in the back, he would be convinced that they were ancient mummies from Egypt. No matter what, for some reason Al always thought everyone who covered their face was secretly a mummy come back to life using ancient dark magic. Utter nonsense, in Lily's opinion. They were clearly vampires.

Or, then again, maybe they were actually skeletons. Lily shuddered and took a few steps for the door in case they stood up and tried to eat her. They didn't, and soon enough Mum and Uncle Ron arrived and they all exited together, heading out towards London instead of in towards Diagon Alley.

Lily was kind of sad that they weren't heading to the second most magical and wonderful place in the whole wide world after Hogwarts, but she didn't complain. She was really curious about where her mum and uncle were going with their flowers, but they both looked so distracted that Lily didn't ask any questions. She just followed behind quietly as they went to a nearby station for the muggle Underground. They rode the Tube for six or seven stops—Lily lost count. She was distracted watching how nervous Uncle Ron was. Lily was used to the Tube, even though she didn't travel like a muggle very often, and watching her uncle flinch every time they sped up or jolted suddenly to a stop was really funny.

Uncle Ron looked relieved when they got off and headed back up to the busy streets of London. Lily was pretty sure she heard him mutter something about_ Mad Muggles_ under his breath. Mum followed, seeming as calm and in control as ever, but that wasn't surprising. Lily's mummy was the best and bravest mummy in the whole world. She was never afraid of anything—definitely not a boring old muggle train.

They walked a little further, by which time Lily's feet were beginning to hurt, and came to a great big gate that led away from the busy streets of the city. The sign above the gate read _Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park_, and Lily got a little bit nervous. She didn't like cemeteries, they were creepy places filled with… no, better not think about it. What were they doing here?

"It's alright, Lily-Bean," Mum said softly as Lily took a nervous step backwards. "You have to be brave. After all, you said you wanted to come along."

"I-I did… I do," Lily said, pushing her fear aside. Uncle Ron nodded in approval, and he and Mum set off through the gates. Lily followed closely behind, making sure they didn't get too far ahead of her. She kept telling herself over and over again that there was nothing to be afraid of, that it was the middle of the day and nothing bad ever happened in graveyards during the day, but it didn't really help. She was still scared.

The graveyard was actually really pretty, there were great big tree and flowers everywhere. Lily asked why, and Mum explained that the graveyard had been turned in to a nature preserve years before. "In fact, there have been no new burials here in decades, for muggles at least." That calmed Lily down a little. People who had been dead for a long time couldn't be turned into skeletons. She had heard that somewhere, and she was sure it was true.

Well, at least, she was pretty sure.

They walked for a few minutes, and Lily stopped being afraid. Instead, she spent her time looking at the graves as she walked by. None of the names looked familiar at all, and even the dates were all weird. Everyone in the graveyard seemed to have died in a year that started with a one… how strange was that? Lily had been born in 2008, and she couldn't even imagine what it would have been like to have been born in a whole other, what was the word, mallinnium? Lily shuddered. That would make her old, like Daddy.

Just when Lily was about to ask where they were going Mum and Uncle Ron stopped, standing for a moment in silence. Mum reached out gently and squeezed her brother's hand, who nodded faintly and stepped off the path, heading for one of the newer graves. Uncle Ron said nothing as he bent down and laid his purple flowers in front of it. Mum stayed where she was, bowing her head and saying nothing. Lily stood a few feet away, not sure what to do. She wasn't very good at being serious or quiet, and she had never known what to do in situations like this. She had visited graves before with her family—Dobby the Free Elf's grave near Uncle Bill's house, Teddy's parents' graves, Uncle Fred's grave and a few others. Once, Daddy had even taken her and her brothers to visit Professor Dumbledore's grave on the shore of the lake near Hogwarts. Lily didn't like visiting graves. They just made her sad, and she hated being sad. She was even sad now, and she didn't even know who had died. She sniffed and rubbed her nose, taking a few steps forward so she could get a good look at the tombstone. If she was going to cry about someone being dead, she wanted to at least know who they were.

_Lavender Aurora Brown_

_November 16, 1979 – May 2, 1998_

_Your Light will Never Fade_

_In the Hearts of Those You Loved_

Lily frowned. Lavender... she had never heard that name before, or had she? She tried to remember, but she couldn't place the name.

"Happy Birthday, Lav," Lily heard Uncle Ron say, very quietly.

Lily looked at the grave again, and the date jumped out in her mind. May 2nd, 1998, she knew that date! That was the day that Daddy had fought Voldemort and ended the Second Wizarding War. This Lavender, whoever she was, must have died at the Battle of Hogwarts, which mean that she was probably a friend of Lily's parents and Uncle Ron. They sure did have a whole lot of old friends.

Lily wished so many of them weren't dead. She would have like to meet them all. Now she couldn't. Just like that, Lily broke into tears.

"Shh, it's okay, honey," Mum said, wrapping her in a big warm hug that made things a little better, but not much. It was just so sad. "I knew this would be hard on you, Lily-Bean. That's why I didn't want you to come."

"W-who was she?" Lily asked, hiccupping pitifully.

"She was… an old friend," Uncle Ron said, coming to join them and putting a hand on Lily's shoulder. "One who deserved a full apology from me, but never got it." He sounded like he had a lump in his throat, and his eyes were a little bit wet. He looked close to tears, but Lily knew that couldn't possibly be what it was. Uncle Ron was a huge hero and everyone loved him. He never cried, everyone knew that.

Mum's eyes sparkled as if they were on fire. Lily could tell that she very much agreed with what Ron had said about the apology, but was restraining herself from saying it out loud, although not easily. Instead she turned to Lily and said, "She was a hero, Lily-Bean, who gave her life to protect her friends. She fought beside Neville, Luna and I during that last, terrible year at Hogwarts, never backing down. I had always thought she was a bit of a, well, never mind that. The point, that year I saw a whole different side of her. She risked herself countless times to protect the younger kids. Lavender always had a soft spot for the little ones. She was… she was a true Gryffindor to the very end."

Lily thought that Mum was going to lay her flowers at Lavender Brown's grave, but she didn't. Instead they continued on, going to a different part of the cemetery. This time it was Mum who stopped in front of a grave, bowing her head and letting her red hair cover her face. Lily didn't want to look, she didn't want to feel any sad, but she couldn't help it.

_Michael Tobias Corner_

_February 16, 1980 – May 2, 1998_

_The Greatest Journey of All_

_Is the One You Still Have Before You_

Uncle Ron was staring at the name hard, and Lily wondered what he was thinking. He must have sensed that she was watching him, because he turned to her and answered her unasked questions. "Michael was another friend of ours. When we first formed Dumbledore's Army, Michael and his friends joined us. I mean, he only showed up because, er, well, because he was good friends with your Mum, but he was a good lad. I never really got to know him as well as I should have."

"I wonder why," Mum muttered waspishly from where she was standing, but again she sounded more sad than angry.

"I admit, Sis, I was kind of an idiot back then," Uncle Ron said with the tiniest hint of a smile.

"I know, but so was he," Mum said with a sad smile as a tear rolled down her cheek. "You would have gotten along great if you'd given him the chance. He and I didn't always get along, especially after it… ended between us. But the way he stood up to the Carrows that year when they were torturing him… Well, I've never seen someone smile after being subjected to the Cruciatus curse. He just sat up and looked Amycus Carrow right in the eyes and, in front of the whole school, said two words._ Potter Lives_. They punished him for that, but it filled us all with hope. It was one of the dumbest, bravest things I have ever seen anyone do, and I've seen my fair share."

No one spoke for a while, and a gust of cold winter wind blew though the cemetery. Lily had million, billion thoughts running through her mind all at once, and she had a hard time knowing what to think. Her parents and aunts and uncles were heroes for winning the war and beating the bad guys, but there were so many good and brave people who had died anyways. That wasn't right, it just couldn't be. Why couldn't everyone just live and be happy?

"Why," Lily said aloud, staring at Mum until she looked at her.

"Why what, Lily-Bean?"

"Why do people fight? Why can't everyone just be happy together? Then no one would die."

Ginny Potter hesitated. If there was a harder thing to try and explain to a child than hatred and violence, she didn't know what it was.

"Sometimes people don't have an easy time getting along with other people. They want different things, or they disagree, or they just don't like each other. You can't help that, it's a part of being alive. The important thing is to not take it too far, and to try and work out differences that you have with other people. Unfortunately, not everyone can do that. Some people just do bad things."

"Like those Red Tide people?" Lily asked.

"T-that's right," Mum said, caught off-guard. _Oops,_ thought Lily. She had forgotten that she had been eavesdropping when she'd overheard Mum and Daddy talking about the group that had attacked different places all over England. Daddy had called them a Narchist group or something like that, but Lily didn't know what that meant. All she knew was that Mum wasn't supposed to know that Lily listened to her private conversations sometimes. Lily decided to change the subject quickly.

"Well anyways, I think all the bad people should be stopped, so that no one else has to die like Michael and Lavender and Uncle Fred and Dobby and-" Lily stopped. There were just so many names she could list. She hated it.

"You're right, Tiger-Lily," Uncle Ron said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "That's what your Daddy is trying to do. He's trying to stop all the bad people so nothing bad ever happens again."

_Not all of them,_ Lily thought to herself, although she didn't say anything out loud. She loved her Daddy very much, but he never believed the things she saw. And it seemed like even her daddy, who was the greatest daddy who had ever lived, couldn't stop all the bad things. Lily had to help him out… somehow.

She looked around sadly, and then she saw it. Well, not it, but rather him. Curled up on a tombstone about a hundred feet away was a familiar-looking snake, watching her closely. It was Shanjavi, the snake who Oxalion had sent to guide her when she was needed. Apparently, she was needed now. He seemed to have been waiting for her to notice him, and looked upset that it had taken her so long to look over. He jerked his head, clearly gesturing at… well, at something.

"C-can I look around… er, alone?" Lily asked, thinking on the fly. "I want to explore the cemetery. That's okay, isn't it? Mum, please, can I?"

Mum and Uncle Ron exchanged confused glances. Lily had been afraid of the cemetery, and now she suddenly wanted to go explore on her own? Mum hesitated, but Lily pleaded as hard as her big eyes could plead and gradually her mother relented.

"Alright, but no more than half an hou-"

"Right, be back soon!" Lily said, speeding off before her Mum had even finished giving permission. Ginny sighed slightly and sat with her brother on a nearby bench. They were quiet for a while, but pretty soon they started sharing stories about old friends who were long gone. It was perhaps not the cheeriest way to spend time, but neither of them minded.

Lily meanwhile sped to where Shanjavi was, who watched her approach with glittering eyes.

_Finally,_ he muttered in snake. If he had been a human, Lily was sure he would've had a frown on his face.

_Nice to see you too, _Lily shot back._ What are you doing here?_

_You'll see,_ Shanjavi said mysteriously, slithering away across the grass. Follow me.

_You don't know, do you?_ Lily guessed, but she followed him anyways.

Shanjavi hissed and looked back at her, and she knew if he were a boy he would be scowling at her. _Just follow me, human._

Lily did not much care for being addressed as _human_, but she let it go. She was so relieved to be doing something after all this time that she didn't feel much like complaining.

Shanjavi led her through the wooded cemetery to an old building on the far side. It wasn't a tomb or anything, it seemed like a small cottage where a gardener or someone might live and tend to the plants. It looked abandoned, but Shanjavi gestured at it meaningfully, and Lily knew it was where she was supposed to go. She started feeling nervous again. Sneaking around abandoned buildings in a cemetery wasn't high on her do-to list. Not that she had a to-do list, of course. She wasn't an old lady.

_What's in there? _Lily whispered as Shanjavi crawled up her leg and arm and settled on her shoulder.

_Something you need to see,_ Shanjavi replied all sneaky-like.

_So you don't know._

_Thsss, I did not say that._

_Mmhmm. Okay, let's go._

Lily tried to enter the old cottage slowly and quietly, but the door betrayed her. It creaked loudly, and she almost screamed in fright. She got ready to run away as fast as she could, but nothing moved. She figured that the place must really be empty, or maybe it was filled only with deaf monsters and skeletons. If that was the case, she would be able to run before they saw her, which was good.

The cottage was small, and the first floor was completely boring. It was only two rooms, the dining room and a small kitchen. The dining room was a dusty mess, and all the furniture was either broken or stuffed in the corner where it was of no use to anyone. There was a very dirty sink that made Lily wrinkle her nose. It wasn't because it smelled bad, but rather because someone a long time ago had dumped a bunch of red paint all over the place. It a was total mess.

Lily looked at Shanjavi, who blinked several times in rapid succession. She wasn't quite sure, but she figured that was the human equivalent of a shrug. Lily looked up the staircase, but heard nothing moving upstairs. She took a deep breath and told herself to be brave like her daddy, and slowly made her way up the stairs.

The second floor was completely different from the first. The top floor, clearly, was not abandoned. There were papers and drawings everywhere, and in the corner of the room were three rolled up sleeping bags that looked as if they had been used fairly recently. There was so much else to see lying around, but Lily wasn't looking at any of it. Instead her eyes were drawn to the far wall, where someone had taken a brush and red paint and drawn a big cresting wave. She had seen that symbol before on the newspapers lying around the house and on TV. It was the symbol of those bad muggles, the Red Tide. What was it doing here?

She didn't have time to think about it. Below her, the door to the cottage opened, and the sound of voices filled the downstairs. She could only hear bits and piece of the conversation, but that was enough.

"-if it hadn't been for the interference of-"

"-yes, well, like I said, it was pointless anyways. Our plan will-"

"-dead in the end, so don't worry-"

Lily backed away to the window, knowing she had nowhere else to go. These were bad men, and she was trapped with them. Should she try to jump and run for it? Would she even survive the fall is she jumped?

_Don't worry,_ Shanjavi hissed quietly, although he sounded plenty worried to Lily. _Oxalion would not have sent us here if we were going to be in grave danger._

Lily didn't reply. She didn't have quite as much faith in Merlin's old friend the ghost snake as he did.

The bad men started climbing the stairs, and Lily was so scared that she felt like she was about to pass out.

Stomp, stomp, stomp. _I have to be brave, I'm a Potter._

Stomp, stomp, stomp. _They can't hurt me, they're just muggles. I'm a witch, and I have magic._

Stomp, stomp, stomp._ It will be all right, it has to be. Don't be afraid, don't be-_

The men came to the top floor, and the immediately stopped talking as they saw Lily standing in the corner by the window. They were covered head to foot in black, and were wearing ski masks that covered their faces. Lily had no idea why, and she didn't really spend long thinking about it. She was using all her energy to keep from screaming and bursting in to tears.

_I have to be brave._

"A girl," said middle man, who was smaller and heavier than the other two. "It's a little girl."

"We can see that," snapped the tallest man, who was very thin. He seemed mean.

"What are you doing here, little girl," asked the third man, who rubbed his eye as if they bothered him. He sounded much less mean than the others. "Are you lost?"

_I have to be brave._

_Be smart_, Shanjavi whispered in her ear, but she really didn't need him to tell her that. She'd figured that much out on her own, even scared out of her mind. She considered pretending she was scared and lost, but she could tell by the look the tall was giving her that they wouldn't let her go. Plus, she didn't want to run. Lavender Brown hadn't run when it had been time to fight, and neither had Michael Corner. Of course, they had been fully grown wizards, and she was only nine, but it didn't matter. Lily Potter was not going to back down.

"I've come to stop you," Lily said at the painted wave on the far wall dramatically. "You are bad people!"

_Not like that,_ Shanjavi muttered mournfully, but she ignored him. He really wasn't a very helpful snake.

"Oh yeah," sneered the tall man, reaching behind him and pulling out a gun. "You going to stop us, then, girl?"

"Lucas, don't!" said the third man, reaching out and putting his hand on the gun. "She's just a child. We can't kill her, not like this. This isn't what we agreed to. "

"And?" Demanded the tall man named Lucas. "That won't matter one bit when-"

"She has a snake on her shoulder," observed the heavier man. "She was talking to it." He reached behind his back and drew a weapon as well. At first Lily thought it was another gun, but it wasn't. It was a wand.

Lily hadn't really been terrified up until then. Mum and Daddy had talked about these people, but they had been sure they were muggles, not wizards. Muggles could be bad, but she really wasn't really that afraid of them. Muggles were certainly dangerous, but if she was in real danger she knew her magic would probably be enough for her to get away. There were lots and lots of stories of young witches and wizards using magic in life-threatening situations, and it was usually enough to save them from muggles who weren't expecting it. But these men were dark wizards, not muggles. They were the same kind of people who had killed her grandparents and so many of her parent's friends and family. They could kill her too. That tall man Lucas looked like he very much wanted to-

Lily screamed, louder than she had ever screamed before.

"Why you little-" Lucas shouted, tossing aside his gun and grabbing his wand from his pocket.

"No, don't!" The third man said, grabbing the man's wrist tight. "We agreed to this. No harming children."

"You fool!" spat Lucas, "This girl knows too much, she has to die now before she ruins everything! To hell with your stupid-"

"Think, Lucas! Her death would not go unnoticed," the third man said. "Her family will come looking for her, and the Ministry close behind. If we murder a witch child, they'll hunt us with the entire Ministry."

"Who cares?" Lucas snarled "If they find what we are up to, they'll hunt us anyways."

"Destroy the evidence," the short man said. "Boom, boom." He waved his wand, and for a moment Lily thought she was going to die. She screamed again, but the man's spell wasn't aimed at her. All around the floor, the papers and drawings burst in to flames. He was getting rid of all trace that they had ever been there. Also, she realized he was a little mad. Maybe more than a little.

"We have to go," the third man said, rubbing his eye again. "Leave the girl."

"But-"

"Lucas, now! We have no time."

Lucas scowled and gave Lily a murderous glare and turned away, heading for the stairs. In a moment they would be gone, and Lily would be safe. But… but they would get away, and they would keep on doing bad things. That wasn't right. Her parents and their friends had fought so very hard against the bad guys. They would never have just let these men walk away. Lily wanted to be as brave as they were. If she let them walk away, how could she ever forgive herself?

_I have to be brave._

"STOP!" she shouted just as the three men reached the stairs, thrusting her arms out. She put everything she had into those four letters, and she felt the strange sensation of magic rushing through her. All three men froze, unable to move.

"I told you we should have killed her," grunted Lucas, struggling to move his mouth.

"I said no. That's not why were are doing this. We are doing this to save future children, not murder them in cold blood," the third man replied.

"Screw you. It's just one girl. I will-"

"LILY?!" shouted Mum from somewhere below them, not far from the cottage.

"That voice, that's-" Lucas started to say.

"We have to go, now!" the third man said, sounding nervous. "Apparate at once."

"But the basement-" the short man said, upset. "It needs to be cleaned!"

"Leave it!" snarled Lucas. "We have to go now or they'll catch us!"

"You won't leave!" Lily said, voice full of bravery that was coming from somewhere she couldn't explain. Honestly she was really, really scared.

"Yes we will, you little bitch," Lucas said. "But we'll meet again. Be sure of that." There was a loud crack, followed by two more, and the three men were gone. Lily sobbed and fell over, completely exhausted. She had never been so scared in her whole life.

_You did well,_ Shanjavi said, quietly, licking her ear with his snake tongue_. That was very brave. Even I'm impressed. _Clearly he meant it as the highest compliment someone could get.

_Thanks_, Lily said, rubbing his little snake head. He seemed to like that, although he would probably never admit it. She didn't feel like she'd done well. She was only alive because of that third man, the one who had kept rubbing his eyes the way Daddy did when he took his glasses off. And she hadn't been able to stop them, they had gotten away. She didn't think she'd really done well at all.

Uncle Ron and Mum shouted her name, and she opened the window to wave at them. They asked a hundred questions at once, but she didn't answer them. All she did was tell them where she was so they could find her, then she raced off towards the basement. She had to see what was down there before the men came back and destroyed whatever was there.

The basement door looked a bit like a trapdoor, and Lily did not have an easy time opening it. She struggled for a few seconds before finally using all her strength to flip it open. Then the smell hit her. She caught one glimpse of the basement before turning away suddenly, overpowered by the smell and the sight. There were bodies, ten or maybe twenty in all, all dead. Lily staggered backwards and immediately threw up. She couldn't help herself. Then, about a second later she threw up again. After that was done, she opened her mouth again and screamed louder than she had ever screamed before until her mother and her uncle came and found her.


	43. Chapter 38

Chapter 38 Brothers and Sisters

"Damn it, Simba! Listen when I'm talking to you," snarled Sam, hitting him in the head with a rolled up newspaper.

"Ow, hey!" Protested Halo, looking around for the first time since he'd sat down for breakfast. He'd been running late that morning, and hadn't gotten down to the Great Hall until the morning mail delivery had started. Owl… owls everywhere. He'd just kept his head down and sat at the edge of the Slytherin table, keeping his eyes on his plate and nibbling on a piece of toast. He knew that if he didn't look at the owls, they left him alone. Halo wasn't afraid of them, of course, that was a ridiculous thing to suggest.

"Like I already said three times," Sam continued with an ill-tempered scowl, "you had better look at this." She shoved the newspaper she'd hit him with into his hands.

"Um," Halo looked at her blankly, not really understanding. He was still not fully awake, and the owls were making it hard to think. There was one perched somewhere nearby, looking at him with its freaky owl eyes—he just knew it.

"It's a newspaper," J.B. said in that annoying voice he used when he was being deliberately unhelpful. "You're supposed to, you know, read it… with your eyes." He pointed to his own eyes with his ketchup-covered fork in case Halo was still confused, which he wasn't. Halo made a face, but he knew J.B. was just being a git on purpose. Also, he'd apparently decided to cut to the chase and started eating just ketchup by itself for breakfast. That was new, and clearly unhealthy.

"Gee, thanks," muttered Halo before looking down at that morning's _Daily Prophet_. He thought he might have to flip through it for a while to find the story that Sam wanted him to read. Turns out, he did not. It was right there on the front page.

_November 24th, 2017  
__Deadly Conspiracy Uncovered in London  
__By Ester Maudlinsworth, Senior Editor_

_For months, Britain has been terrorised by a well-organized anarchist terrorist group calling itself the Red Tide. This year alone, the groups has carried out five attacks, collectively resulting in the deaths of 74 people, all of them muggles. Since the attacks began in early June, the Ministry of Magic has been operating under the assumption that the Red Tide was a muggle organization carrying out attacks to bring about the collapse of Britain's muggle government. These attacks were carried out using standard muggle technology, and there was no trace of magic at any of the targeted locations, leading the Ministry to conclude in early September that the attacks were, according to a senior Ministry member, "Without a doubt a case of muggle-on-muggle violence."_

_However, startling new evidence has thrown that assumption into question. Reports have surfaced that the Ministry is currently investigation an abandoned property in London linked with the group. Strong traces of magic were discovered at the scene, and unconfirmed reports claim that a number of masked men fled the building using magical means moments before Ministry officials arrived. While the Ministry has not released an official statement, inside sources confirm that the Ministry is now operating under the assumption that the Red Tide is in fact a wizard organization. If true, that would make 2017 the deadliest year for magic-related deaths since the end of the Second Wizarding War in 1998._

_Details are still coming in, and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement refused to comment on the situation, claiming that the investigation was still ongoing. Nevertheless, Prophet sources confirm that the conspiracy was uncovered by none other than Lily Potter, the youngest daughter of former Prophet reporter Ginevra Potter and Wizard hero Harry Potter. The Potters could not be reached for comment and asked that their privacy be respected, but there is little doubt that the apple does not fall far from the tree. For more on how the Shacklebolt Administration missed the signs, turn to Rita Skeeter's article on page three. For theories about who might be behind this latest wave of anti-muggle violence, turn to page four._

Halo did not turn to any other page, he just put the paper down in shock. Those terrorists that he remembered Ginny and Hermione talking about ages ago were actually wizards? Not only that, they were targeting muggles, killing for no reason. It was so horrible that Halo felt sick. 74 didn't seem like the biggest number in the world, but each and every one of them had friends and families, and their deaths had affected so many people. Why had these wizards started killing innocent muggles? There had to be a reason. No one was so evil that the just wanted to kill people for no reason, were they?

Halo immediately looked over at the Gryffindor table, desperately wanting to talk to his friends. Albus was in the middle of reading the paper with a serious look on his face while Rose and James were whispering earnestly on either side of him, surrounded by their cousins. Halo recognized Louis, Victoire, and Dominique, but there were many other Weasley cousins who Halo didn't actually know. He had seen them in the halls—it was actually harder to walk from one class to another and NOT see a Weasley—but he didn't know their names. Rose seemed to feel that he was watching her and looked up. She had that look on her face that she got when she was thinking very hard, and Halo thought she looked frustrated. Halo knew what that meant; Rose didn't know what was going on either. The only time she really got angry was when someone went after one of her friends or when she came across a mystery she couldn't get to the bottom of. She gave him another look that plainly said, _We'll talk later_ and turned back to her cousins. Halo really wished he could go join the conversation, but he knew he couldn't. That's what came with being a Slytherin. If he tried to walk over to the Gryffindor table during breakfast, it would just cause trouble.

Halo sighed and looked down at the paper again, trying to make sense of it. Why did it refer to Ginny as a _former _reporter for the _Daily Prophet_? As far as Halo knew, she still worked there. Still, the strangest thing was the part about Lily. He had only met Albus's little sister once, when she had snuck into Hogwarts to warn him what the future, but even so he felt a little protective of her. They were the only two people who had seen the vision of the sky set on fire, and he felt like that connected them somehow. He knew how hard it was for her to try and deal with the terrible things she could see in her dreams, and he wished he could help her somehow. Halo didn't know what it meant that she was the one who had discovered the truth about these terrorists, but it couldn't be a coincidence. This all had to be connected somehow, didn't it? But then, what about Halo's theory that the Department of Mysteries was behind the plot to set the sky on fire? Did that mean he was wrong about that? Halo frowned as he looked down at the newspaper in his hand, trying to think. He still felt pretty sure that Adam Lees was responsible—he was such a bad guy that he just had to be—but he was less certain than he had been in weeks. Scorpius had sent a letter to his father weeks ago asking him to look into the Department of Mysteries, but it was nearly the end of November and they hadn't heard anything back. Halo wasn't sure how long they had until their time ran out and the world ended, but he was beginning to feel anxious. What if they were going about this all wrong? What if they were too late? What if-

"Earth to Halo," J.B. said, waving his hand in Halo's face, interrupting his thoughts. He started calling him Halo recently—like nearly all the other students that Halo talked to on a regular basis. Halo realized he had been thinking in circles again, so he just shook his head to clear it and handed Sam her paper back.

"Well, what are you thinking, Simba?" Sam demanded, staring at him with her chestnut brown eyes and fiddling with her spikey blue hair. Sam's hair, which Halo had accidentally transfigured about a month ago, had become a sensitive topic recently. Professor Evergreen told her that she had to change it back, as human transfiguration was against the rules for underage students. Sam didn't want to, and she'd argued that since she wasn't the one who had transfigured it didn't break any rules and she should be allowed to keep it. Halo thought that was a bit of a stretch, but Professor Mason had backed Sam, and for now she'd been allowed to keep her blue hair. Halo thought it was probably just a matter of time before the headmistress got involved and Sam had to turn her hair back, but he kept that to himself. He didn't want Sam mad at him.

"I don't know," Halo admitted. "It's pretty awful, wizards killing muggles again. It's like those old stories about… about the war." Halo had almost said _about Death Eaters_, but he'd stopped himself. He remembered what Sam had said about how much she hated that word. He glanced at Kevin and Courtney who were sitting nearby, eating breakfast quietly and listening to their conversation. Halo knew that both of them, like many of their fellow Slytherins, had been raised in houses that didn't consider killing muggles to be such a terrible thing, but they looked uncomfortable as they listened. That was good. If they had been happy that those poor people had been killed, Halo didn't know what he would have done. Courtney saw him looking at her and glared at him for a second before looking away and turning her attention back to her food. Halo sighed and shook his head. She was still Courtney.

"Yeah I guess," Sam said, clearly thinking hard and trying to solve the mystery. In some ways, she wasn't so different from Rose, although they both would have been furious with him for making such a comparison. Rose and Sam hadn't really gotten on when they first met, and the more they got to know each other the less they liked each other. Halo worried about it sometimes.

"Still," Sam continued, fiddling with her spikey hair some more, "this doesn't seem like a coincidence. For there to suddenly be a group attacking muggles after all these years at the same time someone is trying to cast a spell to destroy the world can't be a fluke. The two things are most liked connected somehow. So what are we going to do about it? We've been sitting on our asses for too long."

Halo stared at Sam the way he always did whenever she said a bad word. He had just never heard anyone talk like that before, at least not someone his age. Sam didn't really seem to notice, she was busy glaring at him as if he had sworn at her, not the other way around.

"We are still trying to save the world, aren't we, Simba? Isn't that why we started that stupid group with the Gryffindors in the first place?" she demanded, loudly enough so that all the other first years Slytherins could hear her. They were all watching the conversation intently—all except for Cleo, who wasn't even there. Cleo had started skipping meals pretty often lately, and Halo was really starting to worry that he might not be able to change her mind about leaving at the end of the semester. At the moment, though, he didn't have time to worry about Cleo, he was far too busy worrying about Sam.

"Y-yeah, of course!" Halo said, his voice squeaking slightly the way it sometimes did when he was lying. Sam noticed it, and narrowed her eyes angrily. The truth was, Halo hadn't organized a single THOMAC meeting since Halloween. Part of the reason was that there really wasn't anything to discuss. They had heard nothing from Teddy Lupin about the book they had found in the abandoned laboratory and nothing from Scorpius's father about the Department of Mysteries. The real reason, though, was that Halo didn't want the others to be involved in this anymore. The Ministry had very nearly discovered what Halo and the others had done in Hogsmede, and if things had gone a little differently they all would have been in just as much trouble as Rose. Rose'd had a pretty rough couple of weeks. One of the older Gryffindors, Halo didn't know who, had nicknamed her Fifty, in reference to the fifty point she'd cost their house. The nickname had spread, and it was quite popular with both older Gryffindors and with Slytherins. Rose put on a brave face, but he could tell how much it bothered her. Halo didn't want anyone else to get in trouble, and so he had quietly decided to stop using THOMAC and keep the information just between him, Rose, James and Albus, who were already too involved to back out. He hadn't thought any of the others would really care if the group stopped meeting, but apparently they did.

"Well, it's just that we don't have any new information, so there was no point meeting," Halo said uncomfortably, trying to keep his hands still and not fidget too much. Rose had told him that he fidgeted when he wasn't telling the truth. He wasn't sure she was right, since he'd never noticed it himself, but he didn't want to take any chances. He kept his hands very, very still.

Sam and the others didn't look convinced, but Halo gave them a winning smile, which seemed to help. Sam snorted softly, but she stopped glaring quite so much. Just when Halo thought it was all going to work out, a great big owl came out of nowhere and landed in front of Scorpius. The beast was huge, definitely over two feet long with brown and tan feathers, creepy owl eyes and protruding ears, as if it someone had gotten confused when it was born and given it cat ears by mistake. Halo didn't know what kind of owl it was, but then he did usually pay attention to such things. He just called it_ beast_ in his mind.

"You're not going to faint, are you, wimp?" Kevin asked, watching Halo closely. Kevin didn't sound concerned, just curious. Halo stammered something that wasn't really English and nodded faintly.

"Garuda?" Scorpius asked surprised, reaching out slowly and taking the letter that someone had attached to the beast's leg. His fingers trembled slightly as he opened the letter and started to read it.

"Is this your eagle-owl?" Courtney asked, sounding jealous. Scorpius nodded vaguely, and Courtney gave an ugly little sigh. "He's amazing!" Halo politely disagreed.

"Yep, real amazing," Halo squeaked. "Can it go away now?"

Courtney shot him a filthy look while J.B. and Kevin looked like they were trying not to laugh. Sam was quiet, her eyes following Scorpius's own as he read the letter. Scorpius looked up, but it was clear he was only half-listening. "Hmm? Oh, right, sorry, Halo. Thanks for the letter, head on back home now, Garuda," Scorpius said, offering the beast a little piece of ham from this fork. Halo hadn't known that owls ate ham, but apparently they did. Either that, or this one really was some kind of monster. Maybe it like to eat humans too… no, better not think about it.

The beast nibbled the ham for a few seconds before giving Scorpius a rather bored look, hooting and flying off. When the beast was finally gone, Halo was finally able to breathe again, while Courtney gave a disappointed sigh and went back to her breakfast, sulking as obviously as she could.

Scorpius frowned after the owl, looking slightly disappointed. "He's always like that with me," he muttered to Halo, although he had a feeling that Scorpius was really mostly talking to himself. "He prefers when my sister feeds him. Just like…" Scorpius's voice trailed off into a mumble, and he went back to reading his letter.

Halo stared at him in shock. _Sister_? He and Scorpius weren't exactly best mates, but Halo thought it was a little strange that he didn't even know Scorpius _had_ a sister. How was that possible? He had been alone with his parents the first time Halo had seen him at Platform 9 and ¾, and so Halo had assumed he was an only child.

"Um, Scorp-," Halo said slowly, but before he could finish, the other boy interrupted him.

"Wow, this is great," Scorpius said excitedly. "Father said he found something! He wants to come to the school after classes end today and share it with us. We'll need to get permission from Evergreen or the Headmistress though. I don't know if they'll let- Oh, sorry, Halo. What were you saying?"

"Huh?" Halo asked, distracted by the news. Had Draco Malfoy really found something about the Department of Mysteries? Did that mean that Halo was right after all? "Oh, I was just going to ask about your sister. I-er, I didn't even know you had a sister, actually."

Scorpius scowled, and Halo could tell it was a sensitive topic. "Yeah, well, I don't talk about her much," Scorpius said moodily, crumpling the letter he was holding. "She's younger than me, and she's a spoiled little brat. She always gets her way no matter what. My grandparents absolutely adore her. They like to draw comparisons between us because she's so naturally talented and I'm…" he stopped talking. Apparently he didn't want to say exactly what he was out loud.

"Stop it, you're very talented," Halo said immediately, determined to cheer Scorpius up. That wasn't exactly true, Scorpius wasn't really exceptional in class, but he wasn't bad either. Halo turned to the other first-year Slytherins for support, but he was turning to the wrong crowd for a pep talk. Kevin determinedly examining his fingernails rather than meet his gaze, Courtney snorted loudly, J.B. gave an exaggerated shrug and Sam stared back at him until he felt uncomfortable and looked away. If Cleo had been there, Halo doubted she would've had any words of encouragement to offer.

Halo rather doubted any of that made Scorpius feel any better.

"Yeah, well, the important thing is that we have a new lead, so that means that The Hogwarts Obscure Magic Appreciation Club is back in action, right, Halo?" Scorpius asked, keeping his tone light. He didn't say so, but Halo realized for the first time how important their little group was to Scorpius. It clearly made him feel like he was making a difference. Halo hesitated, but he realized that it was too late to keep the others from getting themselves in serious trouble if they broke more rules and got caught. For better or worse, they were all a part of this now.

"Right," Halo said nodding firmly, getting to his feet. "Let's go get permission for our club's guest lecturer."

Halo hadn't expected Professor Evergreen to immediately give a former Death Eater permission to visit the school, but the Potion Master was more reluctant that Halo would have guessed. Halo and Scorpius explained the situation to him, spinning some story about discussing rare alchemy techniques practiced in Celtic Wales (Scorpius mention this father practiced Alchemy quite a bit), which seemed fairly believable. Still, Evergreen looked reluctant.

"I'm not sure this is wise, Harry," Professor Evergreen said slowly, folding the newspaper he had been reading. "This society of yours…"

"Club, sir," Halo corrected automatically, because he was used to Rose doing it. "It's club, not a society."

"Club, whatever," Evergreen said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "It's dealing with some pretty advanced topics. I did not think it was a good idea from the start." Evergreen paused, glancing at the newspaper in his hands for a second. "With everything that's happening don't think it's a good idea to risk…"

"Don't be silly, Elmander," Professor Mason said quietly, sitting beside him. "There's no harm in letting Malfoy's father visit the school for an afternoon."

"Yes, you're clearly in favour of letting everyone into the school, aren't you, Orpheus," Evergreen said waspishly, clearly referencing Mason's decision to let the Ministry question Cleo on Halloween. Halo nodded in silent approval. He was still pretty upset with Mason for the whole thing.

"Please, sir," Scorpius asked, sounding thoroughly miserable, as if someone had just punched his favourite puppy in the face. "I've been looking forward to this for weeks. My father has been planning it specially for me. If you don't let him come…" Scorpius sniffed sadly, and looked like he was about to cry any second. Halo was pretty amazed that Scorpius was such a good actor. In fact, he wasn't even sure he _was _acting.

"I-I suppose," Professor Evergreen said helplessly, "that there's no harm in letting your father visit. But Harry, I urge you to be careful. There has already been one member of this society of yours caught for a serious violation of school rules. If anything like that happens again, I will be forced to put an end to your group."

"R-right," Halo said more alarmed than he was letting on, "don't worry. We wouldn't dream of breaking any rules, professor." Did Evergreen know something… no, that was silly. How could he? No one knew what Halo and his friends were up to except the members and... oh right.

"Erm, how is Evey doing, sir?" Halo asked trying to sound causal. Had Evergreen's daughter let something slip about what had happened at Hogsmede? She had promised she would keep quiet, but then Halo wasn't all that impressed with the girl's decision making ability. Plus, she might have done it by accident.

Evergreen hesitated, and for a second Halo thought he looked angry. He wasn't still mad about the time that Lily and Evey had blown up his office and blamed it on Halo, was he? That hadn't even really been his fault! The look on Evergreen's face soon passed, so Halo figured he must not really be that mad about it. Halo was pretty relieved.

"My daughter is doing well, but she isn't at Hogwarts right now. Living at the castle has been hard on her, so she is staying with my brother for a while." There was something in the way that the professor said it that made Halo think he wasn't entirely happy. "Thank you for asking, and for taking the time to befriend her. She can be… quite a handful sometimes." There was something in the way he said that made Halo wonder if maybe Evergreen had a difficult relationship with his brother, or maybe he was upset that Evey wanted to leave. Halo had thought that Every really liked Hogwarts, but at the same time he knew how bored she was. He felt guilty that he hadn't taken more time to visit before she left. And she hadn't even said goodbye to him. Halo was kind of upset about that.

"Well, thanks for everything, Professor," Halo said, trying to keep his disappointment out of his voice. He had just learned that Evey was gone, so why did he already miss her a little? It didn't make sense. "Say hi to Evey for me when you see her."

Professor Evergreen nodded distractedly, raising the newspaper and disappearing behind it again. Halo wasn't terribly surprised, even if it did seem a little rude. After, this Red Tide thing was probably the biggest news that had swept the Wizarding World in Halo's whole lifetime.

It was almost time for Charms, and Halo and Scorpius had to hurry to make it on time. As they ran up to the classroom, Halo complimented Scorpius on how he'd convinced Evergreen to help him.

"You looked so sad I thought you might actually start crying," Halo said, only half-joking.

"Yeah well, I learned it from my sister," Scorpius muttered, as if it annoyed him. "My Mum is a sucker for tears. All you have to do is start crying and she'll give you whatever you want. I had to learn how to fake it just to keep up with the little demon-child."

"I'm sure she's not that bad," Halo said reassuringly, trying to cheer him up. Scorpius just shook his head slowly, and grumbled, "You'll find out in two years when Viridia comes to Hogwarts. She'll be sorted into Slytherin for sure. Now, c'mon, we're here, better go inside before Professor Dimock yells at us for being late."

They made it in time, barely, but Halo rather doubted Professor Dimock would have yelled at them even if they had been late. Halo had never seen her yell at anyone. He was pretty sure she didn't know how.

Friday passed quickly, mostly because Halo didn't pay attention to what was happening around him. He had so much to think about between the Red Tide, the Department of Mysteries, and the end of the world, so naturally he spent most of his time thinking about Viridia Malfoy. He wondered if she really was as bad as Scorpius made her out to be, or if he just said it because she was his little sister. He had to be exaggerating, didn't he?

Halo was so distracted during Flying that he collided with someone, which did not impress Madame Bell-Thomas in the slightest. She flew her whistle in his face furiously, forcing him and the person he'd hit to sit on the bleachers where they couldn't hurt anyone. Halo wouldn't have minded, really, except that he had collided with Shandra.

"I'm sorry," Halo said for the eightieth time.

"It's fine, Halo, I wasn't watching where I was going either," Shandra said with a laugh, her brown eyes shining like gems the afternoon light. She smiled, and he felt like someone had stuck a burning coal in his stomach. It kind of hurt, but it was warm at the same time. It was a weird feeling.

"Still… I'm sorry," he repeated lamely, wishing the burning coal feeling would go away. It couldn't be healthy.

"Yes, you said that," Shandra said, sounding amused.

"Er, right. By the way-" Halo told Shandra about Draco Malfoy's letter and their meeting later that day. Shandra promised to spread the word to the other Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws. Halo nodded his thanks. He knew he should be the one to find his sister and tell her and her friends, but he didn't want to. He and Cassy hadn't talked much recently, not since Cassy had tried to convince the others to expel Cleo. Just thinking about it still made him angry, and every time they saw each other they started arguing about it all over again. The main problem was that, even now, Cassy seemed convinced that she was right. No, it was better if Rose or Shandra or someone talked to Cassy instead.

They met in the library after classes were over. Halo thought that he was on time, but nearly everyone was already there by the time he arrived. He hadn't stalled…well maybe a little, but only because he didn't want to be alone with his sister if she got there early. They would just fight again, and Halo didn't want to fight. The only person missing when he arrived was Cleo, but that wasn't a big surprise. He'd told Cleo about the meeting at the end of class, but she had just stared at the floor and ignored him. He'd knowns she probably wouldn't come.

The others were sitting in nervous silence around a thin man dressed in fancy black robes. He was pale with blonde hair that was balding in places, although he was clearly trying to hide it. He looked so much like Scorpius that Halo had no trouble believing this man was his father.

Draco Malfoy watched Halo with dark grey eyes that made him slightly uncomfortable. They didn't feel cold or evil, but they were unmistakably calculating, as if he were judging Halo right at this moment to decide whether or not he was worthy. Halo didn't not like that look much, and quickly looked away. His eyes immediately found Cassy, who was sitting between Heather and Tommy and looking at him with concern. She had been acting so overprotective recently that it upset him more than Mr. Malfoy's look had. He looked away and scowled, sitting in an empty seat between Rose and Sora. Halo wasn't actually sure who had told Sora about the meeting, but he was glad the boy was here. Sora was always so calm that he made Halo feel more at ease.

"Well, we're all here now," Atalanta said, taking control of things the way she did when Halo was scared or distracted. "On behalf of the society, thank you for coming, Mr. Malfoy."

"It's a club not…" Rose muttered quietly, but no one except Halo heard her. He couldn't help smiling. It was so typically Rose.

"A secret society at Hogwarts," Mr. Malfoy replied in a slow drawl, looking around at them in faint amusement. "How original."

Halo and the others exchanged confused glances before looking at Scorpius, who looked very uncomfortable.

"Of course, in my day, the Slytherins would never have been invited to join the other houses in any secret clubs," Draco Malfoy continued, his eyes resting on Albus and James, who were sitting next to each other. Al seemed slightly confused, while James (big surprise) looked angry.

"Yeah, well, you had other secret groups to join in your day, didn't you, Malfoy?" James snapped. There was a stunned silence, and many of the Slytherins started talking angrily at the same time. Sam looked especially upset, while Scorpius looked like he wanted to run away. Mr Malfoy didn't seem particularly angry, he just continued looking at James in amusement.

"Right you are, James Potter, right you are," Mr. Malfoy said, unconsciously rubbing his left arm as if it bothered him. "But sadly, we all can't be shining stars like your dear father. Some of us have to crawl out of darkness the hard way. It is not an easy climb."

The children sitting around Draco Malfoy exchanged uncomfortable looks, not really understanding what he was talking about. They were almost all too young to have experience true evil. The one girl who had sat quietly, staring at her lap and saying nothing. James frowned, trying to figure out whether his father had been insulted or not. He wasn't really sure.

"Er, right," Halo said determined to move on before everyone started fighting again. "Mr. Malfoy, could you please tell us what you found out about the Department of Mysteries?"

"The Department of Mysteries, where the Ministry keeps its most closely guarded secrets," Mr. Malfoy said in his slow drawl. "I wasn't sure if my son was serious at first, asking me to investigate something called blood magic. It sounded more like a fairy tale than anything else. After all, I learned long ago that blood has less to do with magic than I was taught growing up."

Halo and the others exchanged startled looks again. Had Draco Malfoy, a member of one of the oldest pure-blood families in Britain, really just said that out loud? Courtney looked scandalized.

"But you did find something, did you not, sir?" Sora asked politely, sounding very curious. Mr. Malfoy noted the Hufflepuff robes and it seemed to Halo as though he had to force himself not to make a rude comment.

"Indeed, young man," Mr. Malfoy said politely enough, "I was able to use my contacts to learn what I could. It wasn't much, but I had thought it best to share with you. Normally I wouldn't share information of this kind to children, but you all seem to know more about what is really going on than the Ministry. That, by itself, is quite troubling."

"Why would anyone talk to you?" James demanded annoyingly. Halo wanted to hit him for making this harder than it needed to be for no reason. James just loved to make things complicated.

Once again Draco Malfoy just smiled at James as if he found him amusing. That did not improve James's mood much. "The eldest wizard families have lived together for many hundreds of years, keeping each other safe from muggles, some of whom would seek to hurt or exploit them if they knew the truth. One day, James Potter, you'll learn just how much relationships like that matter."

Halo glanced at Shandra and Annie, who both uncomfortable with all this talk of ancient wizarding families. Mr. Malfoy hadn't said anything bad about them for having muggle parents, but they still looked like they felt left out. Halo wished he could cheer Shandra up somehow, but he would have to wait until later.

Oh, and Annie too, of course.

"So what did you learn, sir?" Sam asked eagerly. Normally Rose would have been the one to ask those sorts of questions, but she was strangely silent around Mr. Malfoy. She looked like she was trying to not attract attention to herself. It was very un-Rose-like.

Draco Malfoy looked at Samantha Crabbe for the first time, and for a moment he looked sad. He definitely recognized her, although Halo was sure how they knew each other. Maybe their families were close or something, which would make sense given what Mr. Malfoy had said about old wizarding families. Even so, it was strange to see Mr. Malfoy giving anyone such a kind look. Sam blinked, looking just as confused. She glanced nervously at Halo, then at Sora for some reason, before looking back at Mr. Malfoy.

"I asked around, and the Department of Mysteries was indeed doing research into an obscure, little-used form of magic called blood magic. It is an ancient form of magic, almost forgotten in this part of the world, but the Department of Mysteries felt it was worth pursing and researched it for a time."

"You're speaking in the past tense," Cassy noted, "as if it's no longer going on."

"Quite right, young lady," Mr. Malfoy replied. "The Ministry put a stop to the research about three years ago."

"Why?" Heather asked the question they were all thinking.

"There was an… unfortunate tragedy," Mr. Malfoy said.

"What happened? Was it a spell that went out of control?" Halo asked.

"No, it was, a different kind of tragedy," Draco Malfoy said, glancing over at Sam. Sam looked confused for a second, and then a light seemed go off in her brain. She stood up so fast that her chair crashed to the ground behind her. Her eyes were wide with horror, and she covered her mouth with both hands.

Halo was too confused by her reaction to even think of a question to ask, and he wasn't the only one. Most of the first years looked just as lost.

"Three years ago, a very gifted wizard was working in the Department of Mysteries, leading a team doing research into blood magic," Mr. Malfoy said in his slow drawl, and no one could take their eyes off of him. "His name was Anton Fisher. He is currently serving life in prison for Azkaban."

"What was he arrested for?" Rose whispered. Everyone else had taken one look at Sam, whose real name Halo remembered was Samantha Fisher, and decided not to ask, but not Rose. She just couldn't help herself from asking whatever was on her mind.

"Murder," Sam said, voice cold as ice. "He was arrested for murdering his own daughter. M-my sister." She turned around without another word and kicked the chair across the library before running out before anyone could stop her. Draco Malfoy watched her go. He looked so very sad.


	44. Chapter 39

Chapter 39 Sins of the Father

"Someone should go after her," Annie said nervously, breaking the stunned silence that followed Sam storming out of the library. Sam had always been rather mean to Annie, so Halo was surprised that she was the one who spoke up. She really had such a kind heart.

Halo should have expected it by now, but he was still surprised when everyone turned to look at him. Sure, Sam _seemed _to hate him less than everyone else, but she still liked to hit him or threaten him when she was mad. And that look on her face… Halo had never seen anyone look so angry. Well, except for Bellatrix Lestrange in the vision of Harry Potter's memory, but she didn't really count. Halo wasn't entirely sure she had been fully human at that point.

"I'm not sure what I can-" Halo said quietly.

"You have to, Halo," Heather said gently. "If anyone can talk to her, you can."

"And if you don't, she'll probably do something stupid, like hurt someone or wreck the school," Rose muttered. "Although she'd be chucked out, so it wouldn't be all bad." Halo could tell she was mostly kidding, but man, she and Sam _really_ didn't get along.

"R-right," Halo said, knowing he really didn't have a choice. "But, um, I have a question first, Mr. Malfoy," Halo said, turning to look at Draco Malfoy, who continued to sit quietly with a sad look on his face, his eyes on the door. "Why did you tell us all this, sir? All you said was that the Department of Mysteries had a project, headed by Sam's dad, that was looking into blood magic, but that the Ministry shut it down when he was arrested. That doesn't really tell us anything, er, useful," Halo finished nervous, hoping Mr. Malfoy wouldn't be offended.

Draco Malfoy just smiled and nodded, as if pleased that Halo had solved a tricky riddle… which he hadn't. "Very good, Halo Wiggins," Malfoy said, and Halo started slightly. He had never been called Halo by an adult, and he wondered where Mr. Malfoy had heard that name. Scorpius must have mentioned him in his letters home. That made Halo feel a little strange. What had Scorpius said…? No, he had to focus. Halo shook his head to clear it and listened politely.

"The reason I came to you with this is because it is all the information that can be found about the research Anton Fisher was working on. Just his name, nothing more."

"Maybe you aren't as good at getting information as you think, Malfoy," James said smugly.

"My sources are excellent," Mr. Malfoy said, shooting James an irritated look for the first time, and James's smug smile faded as he gulped nervously. Apparently, irritating a former Death Eater wasn't as much as fun as he thought it would be. "The fact is, there are no records of the project anywhere in the Ministry. All that information is simply gone."

"Gone?" Cassy asked, playing with her wild blonde hair as she thought hard, trying to solve this latest mystery. "You mean the records were destroyed?"

"That's impossible," Tommy said beside her, frowning to himself. "My father told me it's illegal to tamper with or destroy official Ministry records." He glanced momentarily at Courtney as he spoke, but his half-sister didn't meet his gaze. She looked very uncomfortable at the mention of her mother's first husband, and Halo felt a little sorry for her. He didn't like anyone looking that sad and uneasy, not even Courtney.

"It ought to be," Mr. Malfoy said, nodding in agreement, "and yet those records are gone, or perhaps there never were any records at all. I do not know for sure, but all I can say is the Department of Mysteries does things a little… differently. It is not the only project that was off the books, I can assure you of that."

"Great, just great," James said, stamping his foot in irritation. "Another dead end."

"Not necessarily," Atalanta said quietly, her green eyes boring into Mr. Malfoy. "Fisher is the answer, isn't he? You're saying that to learn more we have to talk to him directly."

"Perhaps," drawled Mr. Malfoy, sounding bored, "but I certainly did not advise you to do such a thing. Now good day to you all, I must speak to my son alone for a few moments. After that, I shall be on my way." Without another word, he put his hand on Scorpius's shoulder, leading the boy out of the library. Scorpius looked slightly anxious, but Halo wasn't really sure why. Sure, Draco Malfoy was a pretty intense person to have as a father, and he seemed to only put pressure on his son because he wanted him to do well.

Then again, Halo realized he might very well have no idea what he was talking about. After all, he was just an eleven-year-old boy. What did he know?

The others remained sitting in the circle, everyone looking expectantly at Atalanta, who seemed to be the only one who knew what was going on. Cassy looked incredibly frustrated, and Halo knew it was because Atalanta knew something she didn't. His sister _hated_ that.

"Halo, you need to find Crabbe," Atalanta said firmly, leaving no room for debate. "You have to convince her to talk to her father and find out the truth behind this project. It is the key to learning who is really behind all of this—it has to be."

"W-what?" Halo asked, stunned. The others looked just as shocked as he did, even Sora, who never looked shocked.

"Did I miss something?" Charlie asked, glancing at Tommy and Heather as if genuinely concerned he might have missed something. "Isn't her father, I dunno, IN AZKABAN?"

"Yes," Atalanta replied simply.

"Oh… um, right." Charlie replied. He didn't look any less confused. None of them did, except for the least likely person in their group.

J.B. leaned forward, looking unusually thoughtful. "That might work," he said, locking eyes with Atalanta, "assuming they give permission. But that's a lot to ask of her."

"That's why Halo is asking," Atalanta said, smiling that smile she got when she was planning something evil.

"Mind sharing with the rest of us?" Cassy said angrily.

"In Azkaban, a prisoner's family is allowed a visit from their relatives twice a year." J.B. explained to the others. He didn't sound much like his usual joking self, and Halo knew why. His own mother was in Azkaban for a murder that, according to J.B., she hadn't committed. Halo and J.B. had never talked about the conversation they'd had on the shores of the lake, but that didn't mean Halo had forgotten it. "The Ministry will arrange special transportation, and they'll even let students go during the school year. I made sure… I made sure to ask Professor Mason about it."

No one asked him why he'd asked, not even Rose.

"You can't ask her to do this, it's too much," Sora said, sounding angry with J.B. and Atalanta. Halo had never seen him angry before, so he wasn't quite sure if that was what it was. "She hasn't seen her father in three years. You can't ask her to face him alone, not after what he's done."

Halo wondered how Sora knew that, and he thought the boy was probably right. This was an awful lot to ask a girl to face the man who had killed her sister, especially when the man was actually her father. Still, they needed answers, and this was the only lead they had. He had to at least try.

"I'll ask her, but I won't make her do it," Halo said. Naturally, the compromise was not well received. Atalanta and the Slytherins shook their head, as if they didn't approve of him being so soft when they needed answers. Sora, Annie, and a few other the others also looked upset that he was asking so much of her. No one looked happy. Yep, he was a natural leader.

"You'll have to find her first," Albus pointed out. "She could be anywhere. She looked pretty upset when she ran off."

Halo glanced at James, who scowled as he met his gaze. Halo pleaded with his warm brown eyes, and James just scowled deeper.

Halo pleaded some more.

"Fine," James snapped, surprising the others. He reached down into his bag and pulled out an old roll of parchment. The others stared at it blankly as James took out his wand and pointed it at the parchment, whispering a sentence under his breath that Halo didn't quite catch. It sounded like he said _I solemnly something something_.

Invisible hands began to draw a short message on the parchment that Halo couldn't see clearly. He moved to read it, but it had already faded and in its place those same invisible hands began to draw a map of the Hogwarts. The others began to crowd around the map, staring at it in amazement. Halo hung back a little, letting the others lean in and stare at the Marauders Map for the first time. It was a lot to take in at once.

"Oh wow, look! There we are in the library. That's wicked," Annie said excitedly.

"Oi, I think my dot is bigger than yours, Tommy," Charlie said, winking at Heather, who giggled.

"It even has the ghosts on here. That's creepy," Shandra said with a shudder. Halo agreed.

"Focus people, look for Crabbe," Atalanta reminded them all sternly. If she was surprised that James Potter had a magic map of the school that showed where everyone was, she didn't show it.

Sixteen pairs of eyes scanned the map, but even with everyone searching at the same time it took a while to find her. Halo couldn't see her anywhere. It was Albus who found her in the end, pointing to the far corner of the map where no one else had thought to look.

"What's she doing over there by the shores of the lake?" Courtney demanding, sounding irritated. No one answered her, mostly because no one knew.

"Oh my god, she's not going to drown herself, is she?" Annie asked, sounding scared. Shandra immediately put her arms around her best friend and spoke to her quietly to calm her down.

"I don't think so," James said thoughtfully, glancing at his brother. "I can be sure, but I think she's about where-"

"You're right," Albus said, nodding. "She's right about where the tomb of Headmaster Dumbledore is. She's probably standing right next to it."

Halo had never been to the white marble tomb of Headmaster Dumbledore, which stood on the shores of the lake. It wasn't that he had avoided it or anything like that, he just had never really felt any desire to see it. Just like ghosts gave him the willies, Halo didn't much like being around graves or tombs. It was best to just let the dead go on being dead. After all, it's not like there was a whole lot he could do for them.

"I don't see any tomb on here," Kevin said frowning down at the map. When he frowned, he looked for all the world like a grumpy bulldog that someone had mistakenly transfigured into a human. Halo decided not to share those thoughts out loud.

"The tomb is newer than the map is, so it wouldn't show up," Atalanta said, calmly, although Halo didn't know how she knew that for sure. James nodded, but Halo could tell that he didn't like how easily she had figured it out.

"Well, anyways, that's where she is," J.B. said, flashing a joking smile and making a shooing gesture at Halo. "Go do your talking thing and convince her to help."

"That's not fair," Halo protested with a frown. "It's not like I trick people or anything like that. I just listen and… and stuff." He wasn't really sure why people usually did what he wanted. It confused him too, sometimes.

"Uh huh, sure," J.B. said, smirking annoyingly. "I'm sure that's what it is."

"Shut up, Grant," Shandra said, glaring at him for a few seconds before turning to smile at Halo, "Unfortunately, the idiot is right, Halo. Crabbe was pretty upset, and like Rosie said there's no telling what she might do. You should probably hurry."

It took Halo about a second to process her words, because he had been just the teeniest bit caught up staring at her pretty smile. But others were all watching him expectantly, and Rose was giving him a knowing smile, as if she could tell what he was thinking. That, more than anything, spurred him into action.

"Right, I'd better go find Sam," Halo said standing up quickly and forcing himself to look away from Shandra's smile, which was harder than he thought it would be. He flashed Rose a quick _if-you-say-anything-I'll-kill-you look_, which only made her smile wider, and hurried off to the lake.

He found her sitting on top of the white marble tomb, hugging herself with her arms as her long legs stretched towards the water, dangling about an inch or so from the surface of the lake. Most people would have been scandalized that she was sitting on top of such an important tomb like it was no big deal, but Halo didn't really care. He had always disliked tombs in general, and seeing Sam sitting up there thoroughly unconcerned with what anyone thought made it seem much less scary. Plus, he had the feeling that she was only sitting there to cause outrage. It was like she wanted someone to yell at her so that she could yell right back at them. Sam was trying to pick a fight—he could tell just by looking at her—so Halo did the only thing that made sense. He hopped right up on the tomb and sat beside her, giving her a big smile when she turned to glare daggers at him. He hoped that the old headmaster wouldn't mind terribly that two first years were sitting on his tomb. Had he known Albus Dumbledore at all, Halo would have known that the professor wouldn't have minded in the slightest.

It was nearly impossible to be mad at someone who was giving you a big warm smile, even for Sam, who you can be sure tried her very hardest. She was careful not to look into his warm brown eyes as she growled, "Go away, Wiggins. I don't want to talk."

"Okay, we don't have to talk," Halo said soothingly, "but I'm not leaving." He could hear the pain and anger in her voice, and it was easy to tell that she had been crying. He had never thought he would see Sam Crabbe cry. She had always seemed too strong for it.

Sam rubbed her eyes furiously and stared out across the lake, pretending that Halo wasn't even there. She held her composure for a few more seconds, and then her anger seemed to fail her. Her composure crumbled, and she leaned forward, hugging herself and sobbing. Halo wordlessly put his arm around her, and for once she didn't push him away. She began speaking slowly through her tears, and before long the words were rushing out of her before she could stop them, telling Halo a story that she had never shared with anyone.

"Mother always says that my f-father, was a great man… once," Sam said, her voice breaking slightly as she said the word father, as she wasn't used to saying it. "I suppose he must have been, but I don't really remember it. For as long as I can remember, he was usually either busy with his work or… or angry. There were a few times when he was his old smiling, joking self, the person that my mother and my sister told me about, but it never lasted. And whenever he drank, it became worse."

Sam took a deep breath, steadying herself before she could continue. Halo said nothing, he just kept his arm around her. He wasn't sure if it made her feel any better, but she didn't shrug him off, so he figured at the very least it didn't make her feel any worse.

"For a while, it wasn't so bad," Sam said shakily when she worked up the courage to continue speaking. Just like before, once she started speaking it became impossible to stop. "He would yell at my mother sometimes, but there were still times when he was his old self, and he said that he was sorry for everything. Even when he'd had too much to drink, he never yelled at me or at… or at my sister, E-Eliza." Sam faltered again, and it was clearly painful for her to say her sister's name. "A-anyways, it didn't last. I heard my mother say once that something happened, that something changed in him, but I don't know what it was. I never found out. Those last few months he drank more and more, and he almost never came home sober. He stopped just yelling and he started to… lash out."

Halo was so heartbroken that he wanted to say something, but he had no words that could make her feel better. He was good at cheering people up, but this… this was so far beyond anything he could have imagined. It was just like Cleo all over again. Just like with her, he really didn't know how to help. There was just too much pain. All he could do was sit and listen.

"I know what you're thinking," Sam said with a hollow laugh that echoed out across the lake. "Why didn't my mother stand up to him? She was a witch, she should have been able to stop it, right?" Halo had not actually been thinking anything of the sort, but now that she mentioned it he did find it strange. "Even I don't know why she let him hit her," Sam continued bitterly, "maybe she was just weak. He never laid a hand on me or Eliza, at least not at first, so maybe my mother thought she was protecting us somehow. If she did, she was an idiot. All I know is that she never stood up to him, so my big sister had to do it. She was only ten years old; not even old enough to start Hogwarts. She wasn't a full witch yet, not like my mother was.

That night he came home already so drunk that he could barely speak. He had never pointed his wand at any of us, but that night my mother finally did something. She tried to reason with him, to beg him to stop drinking, but he didn't listen. He roared at her to get out of the way, but for once my mother didn't back down. She stood her ground, and h-he pointed his wand at her. She had her own wand in her pocket, but she didn't draw it. I-I still don't know why she didn't draw it."

Sam's voice shook with rage, and below her feet the surface of the lake began to swirl, tiny whirlpools of water twisting and churning on their own below her feet. Halo had never seen anyone except Cleo trigger magic without meaning to, but he knew from Magical Theory class that it happened sometimes when inexperienced witches and wizards were reacting to strong emotions.

"My sister was a brave, much braver than me," Sam said, the rage in her voice giving way to sadness. Below her feet, the magic churning of the lake became a single whirlpool, about five feet in diameter, that swirled slowly below her. "When he started yelling, she would always take my hand, telling me that everything would be okay. She used to… she would sing to me on the nights when I was too scared to fall asleep. She would sing on and on, sometimes for an hour, until I finally managed to stop shaking and drift off. Nothing ever seemed to scare her. Not even our father' s wand."

Halo didn't want to hear any more, but he knew he had to listen. If Sam could bring herself to talk about it, then it was the least he could do to listen, but Sam was no longer the only one crying.

"I don't think he meant to do it, at least not really. He was so drunk that he probably had no idea what he was doing. For once my mother refused to back down, and he pointed his wand at her. She didn't draw her own wand, so my sister put herself between the two of them, thinking that it would be enough to snap him out of his anger. Usually it was, but not that time. I don't know exactly what spell he cast, I didn't see it clearly, but the next thing I knew my sister… Eliza was d-dead. That brought him to his senses, but it was already too late. The Ministry arrived five minutes later, but they were also too late… way too fucking late."

Below their feet, the surface of the lake exploded suddenly, soaking them both with water. It seemed to catch Sam by surprise, for she hadn't noticed that she was controlling the water without meaning to. She also seemed to realize of the first time that Halo had his arm around her, trying to comfort her, and she pushed him away sharply. She glanced at him with an angry scowl on her face, and she looked like she already regretted sharing her story.

"If you _ever_ tell anyone-"

"I would never do that, Sam," Halo said quickly, "not unless you give your permission."

Sam snorted softly. "That's never going to happen. You might like sharing your problems with everyone you know, but I sure as hell don't. I learned long ago that putting your trust in anyone is a bad idea. They'll just let you down." She sized him up, as if wondering how he was going to fail her.

Halo promised himself he never would.

"So why are you here Wiggins?" she demanded. Halo noted that she wasn't using her favourite nickname for him, _Simba_. He wasn't even entirely sure what a Simba was. She had said it was some sort of muggle cartoon lion, but he had never heard of it. Still, he kind of liked the nickname. Sam hadn't given anyone else anyone else a special nickname. It made him feel special, and now she wasn't using it.

"Atalanta sent you, didn't she? Or was it your sister?" Sam asked, eyes suspicious. "Did they send you to find out the true story?"

"N-no," Halo stammered, thankful that he didn't have to lie to her. Atalanta hadn't really seemed to care much about the story of what happened to Eliza Fisher. Then again, she hadn't seemed surprised by the whole thing, so maybe she already knew the whole story. It was only three years ago, and many of the other Slytherins seemed to have heard about it already.

"Then why would…" Sam said, clearly thinking through all the possibilities. Then her eyes widened as she realized the truth. "He's the key isn't he; you need me to talk to him. You want me to go to Azkaban, don't you?" She didn't sound angry, her voice was full of something else, some emotion that Halo didn't recognize.

"No!" Halo said loudly. "I mean, that was what Atalanta wanted, but that was before I knew the story. I would never ask-"

"I'll do it," Sam said, not looking at him. Her gaze was far away, across the water. "If talking to him is the only way find out what we need, then I'll do it. That's what-what my sister would do. After all, I'm not a little girl anymore. I don't have to be afraid of him."

As Halo stared at her in amazement, he realized that he recognized the tone she was using. It was the same one he used when he told the others that he wasn't afraid of owls. She was lying, but didn't want him to know it.

"You don't have to-"

"Yes, I do," snapped Sam, picking at her blue hair, "and you know it. It's the only way. I have to go to Azkaban and face my father alone."

"No, you don't," Halo blurted. "At least, I mean, you don't have to go alone. I'll go with you!"

Sam blinked at him in shock, and then she started to laugh. It was a genuine laugh, and Halo smiled when he heard it. Sam actually had a pretty laugh, although it didn't come out often.

"Don't be stupid," Sam said, shaking her head. "The Ministry is very particular about these sorts of things. Only family members are allowed to visit Azkaban, they don't allow other visitors."

"Well then we won't ask permission, will we?" Halo said with a wicked smile. The plan was already half-formed in his mind. Even by his standards, it was completely mad. "C'mon, let's go find Albus and the others." He stood up on top of the tomb of Headmaster Dumbledore and offered her his hand.

Sam's eyes went wide as she figured out what he was suggesting. She was a smart girl. She just shook her head in disbelief as she reached up and took his hand, slowly rising to her feet.

"That's a pretty terrible idea, Simba… but thanks," she mumbled, refusing to look at him. If he didn't know better, Halo would have thought she was blushing. He squeezed her hand reassuringly, and she squeezed his back, much harder.

As they turned to go, the strangest thing happened. For the first time in more than a month, the wand in Halo's pocket vibrated on its own. Halo and Sam immediately stopped moving, for both of them had felt it. It had vibrated so strongly that even Sam was able to feel it just from holding his hand.

"What is-" Sam started to say, frowning as Halo drew out his wand. She didn't have a chance to finish her thought, because below them the white marble tomb began to vibrate in answer.

Halo yelp and half-jumped, half-fell off the tomb, letting go of Sam's hand so he didn't pull her off. She jumped down a second later, looking almost as shaken as he was.

"What the hell was that?" Sam asked as the two of them sprinted away from the tomb towards the castle, where things made sense and nothing vibrated for no reason. Halo didn't answer, he just shook his head. He didn't want to talk about it. They both stared at the wand in his hand, but it was still and silent, as if nothing had happened.

"The vibration from the tomb felt almost exactly like the vibration from your wand," Sam continued, trying to get Halo to say something. "It didn't feel like dark magic or undead spirits or anything like that. It was almost as if your wand tried to speak, and something in the tomb answered."

Halo shook his head firmly, refusing to say a word. Sam was right, it hadn't felt like a ghost or spirit or anything, but he couldn't be sure. Damn it all, _this _was why he hated tombs. Stupid vibrating wand with its stupid sphinx teeth core.

"Just forget about it," he muttered at last. "As far as I'm concerned, that never happened."

"But-" Sam sounded like she wanted to argue.

"I keep your secrets, you keep mine. It's only fair."

Sam glared at him for a moment, as if she was angry at him for bringing that up. "Fine, you win, Simba. It never happened."

"Thank you."

"You know, there's times when I wonder why the Sorting Hat put you in Slytherin. Then there's times like these, when I'm pretty sure I know the answer."

Not long ago Halo would have been angry at Sam for saying something like that, but he no longer cared all that much. He just shrugged.

"Yeah, well, whatever. C'mon, Sam, let's go share my terrible plan with the others."


	45. Chapter 40

Chapter 40 The Middle of the North Sea

Scorpius had still not come back to the library when Sam and Halo returned to the others, who were sitting quietly, busy thinking their own thoughts. No one else was in their part of the library, not even Ms. Vance the librarian, who was probably still busy sorting the enormous collection that Newt Scamander had donated to the school after his death. That was good, because Halo didn't want anyone to overhear the plan he was about to propose. It was… a bit risky.

His idea went over about how Halo expected—which is to say not well.

"That is a _terrible_ plan, Halo," Cassy said, staring at her brother as if she couldn't believe what he'd just suggested. He couldn't really blame her. It did sound a bit mad.

"I'm against it," James said, as if that settled the matter.

"Big surprise," muttered Rose. She tried to say it quietly, but she didn't do_ quietly_ well, and everyone heard her quite clearly.

"I know it's not, er, ideal," Halo said as many of the others stared at him in blank disbelief, "but it's really the only choice we have. We can't ask Sam do this all alone, and there's no other way for me to go to Azkaban with her. That's what this group is about, supporting one another."

Sam sat silently, picking at her spikey blue hair and not looking at anyone. She wasn't exactly giving off a _thanks for the support_ vibe.

"I have my doubts about whether _she_ is worth it," Rose said, jerking her head in Sam's direction, "but I support Halo's decision. If it really will help us to know what we're facing, then we have to at least try. After all, we're trying to save the world here, and we're running out of time."

Rose was pretty convincing when she wanted to be and, while no one looked happy, most of the others started to nod. Halo smiled at Rose in thanks, who smiled back. Courtney pretended to gag and muttered something under her breath that sound remarkably like _get a room_, which kind of ruined the moment. Halo and Rose both blushed and quickly looked in opposite directions.

"The plan certainly has its risks, but I suppose it's necessary," Atalanta said with a sigh, frowning at Sam as if she was disappointed that she wasn't completely fearless at eleven-years-old. Halo thought that was incredibly unfair. After all, no one was as freakishly calm as Atalanta was.

"Well, it's really Albus's decision, isn't it?" Heather pointed out reasonably. "After all, it's his cloak. I haven't heard him say anything."

Fifteen pairs of eyes turned towards Albus Potter, who looked as uncomfortable as he always did whenever he was the centre of attention. He gulped nervously and kept his eyes on Rose, which seemed to be easier than meeting the eyes of everyone at once.

"Well, um, I can't say I love Halo's plan. It seems a little risky-"

"A little risky?" Interrupted James, loudly. "He wants to use Dad's cloak to sneak into Azkaban, the most secure place in the whole world. That isn't a little risky, Al. If Dad-"

"Dad snuck into Gringotts when the whole world was looking for him, so don't bring up what Dad would do," Albus shot back, glaring at his brother. James blinked in surprise several times, and Halo and the others stared at Albus, unable to believe their ears. Halo had never heard Albus stand up to his brother like that before.

Albus took a deep breath, clearly gathering his courage. "It's definitely dangerous, but Halo and Rose are right. Right now we _have _to get answer, and there's no way the rest of us can ask Crabbe to do it alone. That's why we'll go with her under the cloak."

Halo wasn't quite sure he'd heard right—he thought maybe Albus had said _he_ and Halo'd heard it wrong—but the reaction from the others told him he'd heard what Albus said right the first time.

No one was happy.

"_We_?" James demanded, looking like he was about to lose it.

"Are you completely mental, Potter, or just a moron?" J.B. asked, sounding as if he really wanted to know which it was.

"Hold up, who said you could come?" Sam asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Apparently agreeing to have Halo along was one thing, while bringing Albus Potter was another thing altogether.

The others were no more impressed. Charlie shook his head in disbelief, while Annie looked at Albus with doey green eyes, as if he had just announced that he had a horrible disease. Even Atalanta looked surprised, which was something of a shock. Halo was pretty sure he'd never seen her with that look on her face before. But then, Halo himself was caught off-guard too. His plan had been to go with Sam alone. He had never considered taking anyone else along with him, or even that anyone would want to go.

"That's settled then," Rose said, flashing the big, innocent smile she used to try and get away with things. "Halo, Al and I will go with Crabbe under the cloak. We'll make sure we get the answers we need, and no one will ever know we were there."

No one was happy about this either.

"There's no way in hell _you're_ going," Sam said, her brown eyes narrow and dangerous.

"Rosie, you can't," Shandra said, looking scared, "If the Ministry catches you again…"

"Princess Jamaica is right, Fifty," Courtney interrupted, "If you're caught they'll probably just keep you at Azkaban for good." Shandra shut her mouth slowly, staring at Courtney in disbelief. Halo was so angry he couldn't speak. He had never thought that anyone, not even Courtney, would casually just call Shandra something like that.

"If you _ever_ call her that again, it will be the last thing you ever say," Cassy said as she rose to her feet, drew her wand and pointed it straight at Courtney. She didn't sound like she was kidding. "Are we clear?"

"I… uh," Courtney said, looking around in alarm, as if she really didn't know why everyone was so upset. No one seemed interested in coming to her defence, not even the other Slytherins. They were busy looking everywhere except towards her.

"Are we CLEAR?"

"Y-yes."

"Good, now do as my brother says and shut up for a while," Cassy said, turning away from Courtney in disgust. She glanced at Shandra and gave her a sad little half-smile.

"I'm not even Jamaican," Shandra muttered quietly as she stared at her hands, which were folded in her lap. "My parents are from Antigua."

No one responded. It had never really matter to Halo where Shandra or any of his other friends' families were from. They were all witches and wizards, weren't they, so why would it matter? Apparently none of the others cared either, or, if they did, they were smart enough to keep their thoughts to themselves. Cassy still had her wand in her hand.

"Unfortunately, Rose, there is no way you can go with them," Cassy continued, eager to move the conversation forward. As she spoke, she glanced at Atalanta, who nodded in agreement. The fact that the two old rivals were agreeing surprised Halo as much as anything that had happened all day.

"That's not fair, you two can't just decide-" Rose started, clearly ready to fighting not to be left behind.

"Weasley, you have detention," Atalanta said curtly, interrupting her.

"-who gets to… wait, what?" Rose looked very confused.

"Rose, the trip to Azkaban will have to be on the weekend, so that no one will notice Halo and Albus are gone. It would be kind of obvious if they don't show for class," Cassy explained, using a very different tone from Atalanta. "You still have detention this weekend and next, so there's no way someone wouldn't notice if you left the castle."

"Oh, right," Rose said, blushing and looking thoroughly miserable. "I guess… I guess I'm not going then." She glanced at Halo, who gave her a little nod. He trusted Rose more than anyone, but he was a little relieved that she wasn't coming. This way, there was no risk of her getting in really serious trouble with the Ministry… again.

"I guess this means there's room for one more person under the cloak, right?" Annie piped up hopefully. "Three people went last time."

"True," Atalanta said, twirling her wand around her long fingers the way she did when she was thinking. "There would be room for one more."

"Don't even think about it, Selwyn," growled Cassy. Atalanta said nothing; she just continued spinning her wand around her fingers, all the while staring unblinkingly at Cassy. There was no way of knowing what she was thinking, but, since it was Atalanta, it was probably something bad. Cassy and Atalanta were never far from fighting, and they both had wands in their hands. The only good thing was that they weren't pointing them at each other, at least not yet.

"He's _my_ brother," Cassy said, pacing back and forth, ignoring everyone except Atalanta. "If anyone is going to go with Halo and Albus, it ought to be me."

There was a long pause as the two girls stared at each other, neither backing down. At last Atalanta blinked, shrugged indifferently and said, "Fine, go ahead, Wiggins. If you want to go to prison that much, I won't stop you. I was never planning on going anyways. Like you said yourself, it's a terrible plan." She got to her feet and stretched like a cat, stowing her wand in a single, fluid movement.

"Well, I've had about enough of all of you to last me a good long while," Atalanta announced, "You had best plan for this weekend, Halo, and Saturday would probably be best. Hopefully you actually find something this time. I've had enough of dead ends." She gave Halo an annoyed look, as if it were all somehow his fault, and abruptly walked away without another word.

Just like that, the latest meeting of the Hogwarts Obscure Magic Appreciation Club came to an end, and its member slowly went their separate ways. Cassy went to talk in the corner with her three fellow Ravenclaws, while most of the others collected their bags and got ready to leave. Sam seemed every bit as sick of people as Atalanta was, and she stormed off somewhere without even looking at anyone. Sora hurried out right afterward, probably heading back to the Hufflepuff common room, followed closely by the first-year Slytherins who no doubt left to go to the dungeons. Courtney was the last of that group to leave, glancing back at Shandra as if she wanted to say something. Shandra didn't seem to notice—she was still staring at her hands—and after a second or two Courtney left without a word.

Halo decided to go over and check on Shandra, but as he got near, she suddenly stood up, dragging Annie, who'd taken hold of her hand, to her feet as well.

"Are you-" Halo tried to say.

"Fine… I'm fine," Shandra said, but she clearly wasn't; it was clear from her tone. "It's been kind of a long day, and I'm a bit tired. See you later, Halo."

"Shandra…" Halo said, feeling really, really bad for her. "You can't let what she said bother y-"

"Oh, no, it's not that at all," Shandra replied in the same tone, not meeting his eyes. "I'm just tired… and, uh, Annie was just telling me how she was feeling really sick. Weren't you Annie?"

"Huh?" Annie asked, not understanding for a second. Shandra glared at her fairly obviously, and Annie seemed to get the message. "Uh, I mean, that's right. I've been feeling, like, really super sick. Actually, uh, I think I might have to go see Madame Abbott later, that's how sick I am. Sorry, Halo, don't want you to catch it or whatnot. We'll see you later."

"But-" Halo tried to say, but it was no use. The girls were gone. Halo sighed in frustration and made a fist. What was_ wrong_ with Courtney? Why had she called Shandra… something like that?

"She'll be okay," Albus said quietly from where he was sitting nearby. "She doesn't look it, but Shandra's pretty tough, and it's not the first time someone's said something like that to her."

"What?" Halo asked, surprised. "What do you mean? Why would anyone…"

"Dunno," Albus replied, frowning, "but they did. She told me about it one night; all the things the muggle kids back in Hull call her. I guess there aren't a lot of immigrants where she's from, and everyone treats her differently. It didn't help that her magic let her do strange things sometimes, but that was really just an excuse to be mean to her. They used to call her _Witch, Voodoo, Mama Africa_ and...worse things."

"I never knew that. T-that's horrible," Halo whispered, shaken. What was wrong with people? Why would they do something like that to a sweet, beautiful, amazing girl like Shandra just because she looked different?

"She doesn't really talk about it," Albus said. "I bet she hoped that it would be different here at Hogwarts, but I guess-"

"It will be different," Halo said fiercely. "No one will bother her again, not even Courtney. I'll make them stop."

Albus didn't say anything. He just scratched the back of his head and, for some reason, looked like he was trying not to smile. That didn't make sense to Halo, since he definitely hadn't been joking.

"What?" asked Halo, a little annoyed by Albus's reaction.

"Oh, nothing Halo," Albus said, "it's just… I knew you were going to say that."

"Huh?"

"Halo, you'll always do everything you can to help anyone who's in trouble," Albus explained. "Rose, me, Crabbe, Malfoy… it doesn't matter."

"Well, sure, why wouldn't I help my friends?" Halo said, really not understanding. What else was he supposed to do when someone was upset? Not help them? That made no sense.

"No, Halo, it's more than that," Albus said, shaking his head. "You're the only person I know who would do something like that without a second thought."

"That's not-"

"And you've stood behind Clytemnestra since the beginning, even when no one else would."

"Well, actually, I was scared of her at firs-"

"Will you stop it, Halo?" Albus demanded, sounding more amused than annoyed. "You can't fool me, mate. Rose and I have been with you from start, and we've seen it all. I mean, you even went to cheer up Stubbs when she upset, and you two hate each other."

"That only happened that one time," Halo muttered. It still felt weird when he thought about his conversation with Courtney. Courtney had apologized and called him Halo and everything, and in some ways it felt more like a dream than something that had actually happened. "I only went because no one else would."

"That's my point, Halo," Albus said, smiling. "You're the one everyone counts on in the end, the one everyone trusts. That's why I wanted to go to Azkaban with you. I… I wanted to be more like you."

Halo stared at Albus for a few seconds before opening his mouth, but no words came out, and eventually he shut it again. Albus Potter, the son of the greatest and most famous wizard of ALL TIME wanted to be more like him? That was completely mad; it made no sense at all. He really wasn't anything special. He was a terrible leader, and no one ever seemed to listen to him. Halo frowned and shook his head to clear it. It didn't make any sense, none at all. Albus was wrong about him. Halo opened him mouth to tell the other boy so, but a sudden thought struck him and he changed his thought mid-sentence.

"Al, you're wrong about… wait a second. Why was Shandra telling you about this late at night? Are you… you two aren't…"

"What?" Albus asked, seeming genuinely surprised. "No, it's not like that. People just like telling me stuff sometimes. Rose says it's because I'm such a good listener. James says it's because I'm such a wimp. Anyways, I wouldn't do that to you, Halo, since… you know, you like her and all."

Halo couldn't see his own face, so he could only imagine how red it was. Tomatoes would probably be jealous. "I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered, fidgeting with his robes. "Does… er, everyone know?"

Albus shrugged non-committally, but only so he wouldn't have to say _yes, everyone knows_. Halo clearly didn't want to hear that right now.

Before Halo could decide what to say, Cassy came to join them. She'd finished her conversation with her friends, who had left to go back to their common room. Rose and James were now the only other people still around, and they came to join their little group as well. Halo was definitely not in mood to talk about Shandra in front of Rose, James or Cassy, all of whom would be super annoying for different reason. He didn't have to worry, though, because James clearly had more important things to talk about.

"I can't believe you three are actually going to do this," James said, although he was only looking at his brother. "Hogsmede is one thing, Al, but Azkaban? Are you mental?"

"It'll work out," Albus said, but he sounded nervous. "We have Dad's cloak. They won't even know we were there."

"The cloak is great and all, but we're talking about the most secure prison in the world, Al!" James said, pacing back and forth. "I don't think an invisibility cloak is going to fool anyone."

"The cloak is special, it will protect us," Albus said stubbornly, but Halo could tell he was starting to get scared.

"You don't know that."

"James, it'll be fine," Cassy said, stepping forward and putting her hand on his shoulder. "I won't let anything happen to your brother."

"You were the one who said it was a terrible plan," James protested. "What gives?"

"It doesn't matter," Cassy replied, dodging the question. "Also, Azkaban's isn't like in the old stories. Dementors don't guard it anymore, so all we have to do is avoid a few wizards. With your dad's cloak, it will be a piece of cake."

"Aurors," corrected Rose, as if correcting errors were a reflex, "the guards are all trained Aurors."

Albus looked more scared than ever.

"_Not helping_," hissed Halo quietly, elbowing her shoulder. Rose grimaced an apology and gave him a guilty look.

"Of course, they're probably all the worst Aurors," Rose said quickly. "I'm sure they'll be easy to deal with… even for barely trained kids."

Shockingly, Albus still looked worried.

"Wow, you're _really_ bad at pep talks," Halo whispered quietly in Rose's ear, so she slapped the back of his head.

"Don't worry, Albus," Cassy said calmly, crouching in front of him. "We'll all stick together, and I promise nothing bad will happen. You saw what my brother did to that golem down in Vance's laboratory. After that, Azkaban will be a breeze. Plus," she added with a wink, "I know a trick or two." She patted his cheek, which seemed to fluster him. He avoided her eyes, blushing almost as badly as Halo had a moment before. But that made no sense. Why would Albus have a reaction like that? Halo had never that anyone might actually have a crush on his sister. After all, she was just Cassy.

Suddenly, Halo was very ticked off.

"Whatever," Halo snapped, more irritated than he'd been in a long time, "We're going and that's that, so get over it, James. Try and help for once, instead of just complaining." James scowled, but surprisingly he didn't say reply. The others glanced at each other nervously. Clearly they didn't know what to do when Halo was in a bad mood. It didn't happen very often.

"Atalanta mentioned we ought to go on Saturday," Albus said after an awkward silence. "She didn't mean tomorrow did she?"

"We can't go tomorrow," Cassy said, nostrils flaring at the mention of Atalanta's name. "Crabbe hasn't even contacted the Ministry yet, and there's no way they can arrange transportation by tomorrow."

"Time is running out," Halo muttered, still annoyed that Albus was crushing on his sister. "Something will happen soon."

James snorted sceptically, but everyone ignored him. Halo glanced at his sister, and could tell that she was just as uneasy as he was. Neither of them could explain how or why they felt it, but neither of them doubted their instincts. The sooner they went, the better.

"I'll go talk to Sam and see when she wants to go," Halo said, pushing aside his irritation for the sake for the others' sake. After all, he was the only one here that Sam didn't hate. "You lot try and find out anything you can about Azkaban. We should try to find out as much as we can before… before we go." He tried to make it sound like they were planning a fun little holiday, but they all knew that they weren't. Still, no one argued or questioned his decision, not even James. They just nodded and got to work, looking around the library for any relevant books. Halo, meanwhile, went to find Sam.

Sam was back in the Slytherin common room, and they agreed they would go the following Saturday. She didn't seem happy about it, but Halo knew that there wasn't really any time that she would be happy to visit her father. Halo gave her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder that only seemed to annoy her and went back to the library to help them search for books on Azkaban.

Problem was, there weren't any. Halo, Cassy, Rose and her cousins went back after classes the whole following week, sometimes accompanied by other members of THOMAC, searching for any books that showed the layout of Azkaban or could tell them what to expect. They found almost nothing. There were plenty of books that mentioned the prison, but none of them went into detail. After the twentieth books that was vague and unhelpful, Halo figured it had to be on purpose.

According to the various books Halo and the others found, Azkaban was built in either 1453, 1492, or 1511. None of the books seemed to agree on who built it or why. Most mentioned that it became a prison in 1718, but there was little agreement on what it had been used for before that. Caligula Cadmus's book, _Mysteries of Wizarding History,_ mentioned that it had been built as a fortress for vampires, while someone named Doris Purkiss claimed in _Seventeen Things You Didn't Know About the Dark Arts_ that Dark Wizards had used the fortress to create a secret army of skeleton. Then again, the book also claimed that the first Minister of Magic had secretly been a giant who had eaten all of his political opponents, so Halo didn't put much stock in it. Unfortunately, those were two of the more useful books about Azkaban.

Saturday, December 2nd came before Halo was ready for it, and he barely slept at all Friday night. What he, Sam, Cassy and Albus were going to do finally hit him, and he was far too nervous to sleep more than an hour or two. Sam had told him on Thursday that a Ministry car would be waiting for them at nine o'clock that morning. Halo didn't know how a car was going to get them to the Azkaban, but he'd decided not to question Sam about it. She hadn't look in the mood to answer questions.

Around five o'clock, Halo finally gave up on sleep and got up. He dressed quickly in his robes and started to head for the common room.

"You shouldn't do this," Cleo said quietly, making Halo jump. Cleo hadn't said a single word in about three weeks, and he hadn't noticed that she was awake. He turned and saw that she was sitting on the edge of her bed, her left arm clutching her right. She was dressed in pyjama bottoms and a sky blue tee-shirt that left her arms bare, clearly showing the crisscrossed lines of scars and burns that she'd gotten from her mother when she was little. He'd seen her arms often enough since they began sharing their room, but Halo's heart still broke every time he saw them.

"Don't worry Cleo-"

"You can't go to Azkaban, Halo," Cleo said firmly, staring into his eyes without looking away. "It's too dangerous. What if they catch you? I don't want you to get locked away."

"Cleo they won't catch us," Halo promised. He wasn't sure how she had even heard of their plan, because he had been careful not to tell. He hadn't wanted… well, he hadn't wanted _this_ to happen. Cleo dropped her eyes and look away, clearly not convinced.

"We have to go to talk to Sam's father," Halo continued; "it's the only way to protect Hogwarts from what's going to happen and to prove you're innocent We'll get the answers we need from him, and they'll all see that you have nothing to do with what's going to happen."

"Halo, what if it_ is_ me?" Cleo asked quietly, staring at the floor. "What if he says that your sister is right, and I am the one who sets the sky on fire? What then?"

"Don't say that!" Halo said loudly, "you have nothing to do with it!" He didn't even consider the alternative. It just wasn't possible.

Cleo didn't respond. She just stared at the ground, looking guilty for something that wasn't her fault. Halo didn't know how she was able to hold that much guilt and pain inside her without going mad. Halo just knew that if he had gone through all the things she had, he would have lost it long ago.

"Cleo, I have to go," Halo said, "but I'll be back tonight. Everything… everything will be fine, I promise."

Cleo looked up and met his eyes for about a second, and he could see in her eyes that she didn't believe him. Halo didn't know what else to say, so he just left, wandering around the castle all alone until about 8:30, when he went to go meet the others in the entrance hall. He tried to convince himself over and over again that it would be fine, that nothing would go wrong with their plan—if you could call walking into Azkaban with a cloak and no real information a plan. Truth was, he didn't believe himself any more than Cleo did, but they didn't really have any better choice.

The others were already gathered when Halo arrived, and Albus quickly pulled out his father's cloak and covered himself, Halo and Cassy with it. Sam looked nervous as she paced back and forth, waiting for the Ministry car to arrive. Halo had never seen a car drive up to Hogwarts before, and he wondered where it would stop. Would it drive right up to the front gate, or would it wait further down, maybe in Hogsmede? Halo hoped not; that was not a fun walk with three people under the cloak.

Ten minutes before nine, Professor Evergreen showed up and said he would take Sam down to the car. He looked tired and maybe a little irritable, but Halo had noticed he hadn't been quite as cheerful recently. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Evey had left Hogwarts to live somewhere else. Evey had such a cheerful personality (even if she was barking mad) that Halo wasn't surprised her father was a bit less cheerful when she wasn't around. Halo kind of missed the crazy little girl himself.

Sam and Evergreen didn't talk as they left the castle and headed down the path towards Hogsmede, which wasn't very surprising. Sam didn't really like any of the teachers, but she particularly disliked the potion master, who always tried to get her to get rid of her blue hair. Evergreen didn't bring up Sam's hair, though, which was good. Sam didn't look like she was in the mood to have that conversation today.

Halo, Albus and Cassy followed as closely as they could without being noticed, and they had to hurry along to keep up. Halo didn't like moving under the cloak, because he always bumped into Cassy, which she clearly didn't like. She didn't say anything, because they had to keep quiet so they wouldn't be discovered, but Halo could tell his sister was getting annoyed. He knew her well enough to know that she'd get him back for it eventually. Cassy wasn't someone who forgot or forgave easily.

At last they reached the car, which was parked by the side of the road, about halfway to Hogsmede. It looked like just an ordinary black limousine. The young driver was wearing a set of lilac-coloured robes, which no muggle would ever be caught wearing, but the car itself looked quite ordinary. Halo wasn't quite sure how they were supposed to get to the middle of the North Sea in… that.

"Ms. Fisher?" the driver asked, stepping forward cheerfully. "Name's Nelson Conners. That's some might fine blue hair you got there."

Sam gave Nelson Conners a withering glare, and his friendly smile faltered. Sam _hated_ being called by her father's name.

"Er, right, why don't we get going?" Nelson said, rubbing his hands nervously. "It's a bit of a trip. I'll be sure to bring her back in one piece, Professor."

Evergreen nodded distractedly, not really listening to the young wizard. He was looking at Sam, and it seemed to Halo like he wanted to say something to her. After an awkward pause, Evergreen finally said, "I know this is difficult for you, Samantha. Sometimes seeing family is hard to do, but we have to remember-"

"Uh huh, well, bye," Sam said interrupting Evergreen rudely. She jerked the car door open and flung herself inside. Evergreen sighed slightly, but he didn't look terribly surprised. Halo wondered why he had even tried to relate to Sam. There was no way that he could possibly understand what it was like for her to see her father after everything he'd done. Evergreen stood there for a minute, looking troubled, before turning to head back to the castle.

Nelson Conners started to close the door, and Halo, Albus and Cassy had to rush forward to make it inside the car before the door shut. They barely made it, collapsing in a tangled heap on top of Sam, who was less than thrilled to be tackled by three invisible people. Parts of them were clearly visible while they untangled themselves, but Nelson didn't notice as he walked around the car to the driver's side. By the time he got in the front and looked back at Sam, Halo and the others were invisible again.

"Ready to go, Ms. Fisher?" Nelson asked cheerfully. Sam nodded, folding her arms irritably. Nelson seemed to understand that she wasn't in the mood for shit-chat and started the car, setting off down the Scottish countryside in silence.

Their driver was clearly a talkative fellow, because less than ten minutes later he started talking again, telling them all about his job. Sam didn't reply at all, but that didn't seem to bother him much.

"You know, I take all sort people to Azkaban to visit their folks," Nelson said, as if Sam might be impressed. "Used to be that no one got to visit Azkaban, but that rule changed after You-Know-Who died… the second time that is. There were just so many people sent to Azkaban after the war that the Minister decided to let families visit once a year. I met the Minister once, you know, when I first joined the Ministry. He gave a speech and everything. A great man he is, a great man."

"So you're in the Ministry?" Sam asked at last. Halo was surprised it had taken her that long to say something. Halo was far more patient than she was, and Nelson was even annoying him.

"That's right," Nelson said, flashing a grin into the rear-view mirror.

"I hate the fucking Ministry," Sam snarled. "When my Father was hitting my mother and terrorizing me and my sister, you know what your precious Ministry did? Not a bloody thing. They just let it happen. He should have been locked away long before what happened to my sister. If the Ministry hadn't had their heads in their collective arses, Eliza might still be alive. So, for fuck's sake, will you please just _shut up_."

Poor Nelson Conners had never met an eleven-year-old quite like Samantha Crabbe. He stared at her with his mouth open stupidly, unsure what to say. Sam wasn't quite done yet though.

"Oh, and by the way," she added "my name is Samantha Crabbe. If you ever call me Fisher again, they might have to get a new cell ready for me in Azkaban, because I might end up staying a while."

Nelson finally got the hint, and rolled up the window-like thingy between the driver and passenger.

"Good thinking," Cassy whispered, although not too loudly, "Now we can talk without him catching us back here."

"What make you think I want to talk to _you_?" Sam demanded glaring over in Cassy's direction. Sam couldn't see her, of course, since they were still invisible. But Cassy, Halo and Albus got the message. This was going to be one of those quiet rides.

After maybe an hour, the car lurched suddenly, and Halo could tell they were no longer driving along paved country roads. Halo thought they had gone off-road for a moment, but when he glanced out the tinted window he saw that wasn't the case at all. They weren't off-road exactly… they had left the land behind entirely.

All in all, Halo preferred flying. Riding along the waves was bumpy and uncomfortable, and Halo soon got sea sick. The first hour was bad, but by the second hour he was more than ready for it to be over. Just when he thought he couldn't stand another second. The car reached solid ground again and slowed to a halt. The window-like thingy rolled down, and their driver glanced back at Sam nervously.

"We've arrived. We're now more or less right in the middle of the North Sea. Welcome to Azkaban, Ms. Fi-… Crabbe."


	46. Chapter 41

Chapter 41 Cell Sixty-Three B

Before Halo or the others could truly come to terms with the fact that they had actually succeeded in sneaking onto what was probably the most dangerous island in the world, the door to the magical water-riding limousine flew open… quite literally. It jumped right off of its hinges and flew into the air which, for obvious reasons, caught Halo and the others a bit off-guard. He almost shouted in surprise, stopping himself just in time, while under the cloak Albus grabbed his arm, squeezing it so hard that Halo wouldn't have been surprise if it'd snapped in two. In the doorway stood a tough-looking witch in her mid-twenties, with short hair that was a startling shade of purple and muscled arms that were folded across her chest. Her wand was in her right hand, above her heart, and it was pointed up at the door, which was revolving slowly ten feet in the air above her. She looked confident and dangerous, and Halo had no trouble imagining that she was an Auror. If anyone spent their life fighting and capturing dark wizards, she did. This witch would have sent even the baddest dark wizards running away as fast as they could, crying for their mummies.

Were all the guards of Azkaban like this? Halo _seriously_ hoped not.

"Zoe! I asked you to stop doing that," moaned Nelson Conners as he jumped out of the car, smoothing his lilac robes and spreading his hands in a clear attempt to appear non-threatening. Personally, Halo didn't think that was necessary. This Zoe person was about as likely to feel threatened by Nelson as a werewolf was to feel threatened by a garden gnome.

The witch ignored the driver, instead scanning the inside of the limousine with her eyes. Halo knew that she couldn't possibly see them under the cloak, but he held his breath anyways. When breaking a dozen or so wizard laws at once, it was probably a good idea not to take any chances.

Zoe looked closely at Sam, who seemed less nervous than she probably was. She looked totally calm as she met the witch's gaze, but Halo knew how badly she wanted to be anywhere but here. Sam had spent years trying to forget everything about her father and the terrible things he'd done, and he knew that seeing him was the last thing she wanted to do.

"Would you _please_ put my doo-" Nelson started to say, his words coming out as a whine.

"You the Fisher girl?" Zoe asked, simply ignored the driver as if he weren't there. Nelson yelped and glanced nervously at Sam, probably expecting her to go bonkers again at the mention of her father's name, but she didn't. Sam just gave a little nod and, for once, kept her mouth shut. Apparently not even Sam was mad enough to shout at someone like Zoe for calling her by her last name. Halo was relieved. He didn't want any of his friends cursed into nothingness while following one of his plans. Well, actually, he didn't want any of his friends cursed into nothingness at all.

"Right, let's get going then," Zoe said indifferently, gesturing with her head towards the high stone walls of the fortress behind her. She flicked her wand and the car door that had been floating above her crashed to the ground with a loud clang. Nelson Connors groaned loudly and ran to inspect the damage.

"Zoe!" he wailed in protest. "Why do you always have to do that?"

"Oh, I'm sure you can fix it, Nelson," Zoe said waspishly. "Even _you_ ought to be able manage that. But then, maybe not. You never were any good at _fixing_things."

She turned away, heading up the narrow path towards the front door of the prison before poor Nelson could stammer a response. Sam, Halo, Cassy and Albus had no choice except to scrambled out of the car after her; the last three moving as quickly as they dared under the cloak. The climb turned out to be even more difficult than the walk from Hogwarts to Nelson's car had been. There was a clear path leading from the limousine up to Azkaban's only gate, but it was steep, rough and uneven. Zoe walked so fast that, as the three children under the cloak tried to keep up with her, Halo kept bumping into his sister. He stepped on the back of her feet, got her long, wild hair stuck in his mouth and even smacking his nose into the back of her head. Cassy had been getting more and more annoyed at her brother all day, and the nose smack was the last straw for her.

"Would you _stop_-" She hissed in an angry whisper, so irritated that she momentarily forgot just what was happening. It wasn't all that loud, but they all heard her. Zoe stopped suddenly, looking around alertly.

"Did you hear something?" she demanded, turning back to face Sam.

"Oh, er, sorry… that was me," Sam said, doing some quick thinking. "I was, uh, talking to myself."

Zoe kept looking around for a few seconds, not entirely convinced by Sam's explanation. Halo and the others stood completely still, and eventually Zoe seemed to decide that Sam's explanation made as much sense as anything else. After all, as far as she could see there was no one else in sight.

"Talking to yourself, huh?" Zoe said, starting towards the front door of the fortress again. "Seems like everyone on this island seems to hear voices in their head. You'll fit right in here, kid." She meant it as a joke, but Halo didn't think it was very funny. After all, it was probably at least half-true.

Sam, on the other hand, smiled and even gave a little laugh, which Halo thought was kind of strange. Smiling, frankly, wasn't like Sam at all. Halo didn't understand what was going on until she glanced up at Zoe and shyly said, "I, um, really like your hair. Purple is my favourite colour, and… it just looks really wicked." Sam blushed and turned away, looking like she wished she hadn't said anything. Halo had never seen Sam all that impressed by anyone, but she clearly thought the young Auror was the coolest.

"Thanks, kid," Zoe said, sounding surprised and a little flattered. "Yours isn't so bad either. I'm a little jealous, actually. My dad would never have never let me turn my hair blue at your age."

"Yeah, well," Sam replied, instantly becoming guarded, "I don't really have to worry that." She jerked her head at the walls of Azkaban, which rose high above them.

Zoe's eyes widened and her confidence vanished for a moment as she stammered an apology. Sam just shrugged, as if it didn't matter. "Whatever," she muttered, picking at her spikey blue hair the way she did when she was irritated. "I guess everyone's got their own stuff to deal with, right? Which reminds me… what's the deal with you and that annoying driver?"

"Nelson?" Zoe asked, flashing an irritated look in the direction of the limousine, which was barely visible at the bottom of the path. "He's a… mistake from my Hogwarts days."

"No!" Sam said, eyes widening. "You didn't… you _dated_ that loser?"

"A long time ago," Zoe muttered defensively, "before I knew any better. He was handsome and sweet and… why am I telling you this? I was a long time ago, and I'm over how he started snogging Tiffany Hatcher the DAY after we… never mind." She glared at Sam, who seemed to find the whole thing hilarious.

Halo was getting some not-so-subtle clues that Zoe wasn't quite _over it_, and made a mental note to be as nice as possible to everyone at Hogwarts. There just weren't that many witches and wizards in Britain, and you probably spent your whole life bumping into the same people over and over again. For all he knew, he and Courtney might get stuck working together for the rest of their lives.

Boy would that suck.

Before Sam could ask her new idol anything else, they came to the front door of the prison and all thoughts of small talk vanished. Azkaban wasn't really the place for light-hearted conversation or making new friends.

The doors of the prison were easily more than twenty feet tall, made of black stone carved with images that Halo did his best not to look at too closely. They all showed people—criminals most likely—suffering different forms of punishment that Halo wouldn't have wished on his most hated enemy… or Courtney. Carved above the door were the words, _Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here._ The large letters were a dulls shade of red, almost as if long ago they had been written in blood. Halo reached out instinctive under the cloak and took his sister's hand, squeezing it as hard as he could. Cassy didn't seem to mind—she squeezed his hand back just as hard.

None of them wanted to take another step, but was a too late to back out now. Halo just hoped that the answers they got would make this all worth it.

"Stay strong, kid," Zoe said, glancing at Sam, who was staring at the words above the door in terror. "I'm not saying this is going to easy, but you'll make it through alright. I can tell you're a tough girl."

Sam nodded, and Halo could tell how much it meant to hear that from someone she admired as much as Zoe. He kind of wished he wasn't invisible, so Zoe could say something nice to him too. He knew that was impossible, of course, but it sure would have made him feel better. He was seriously starting to freak out.

Zoe walked up to the doors, raising her wand and muttering an incantation under her breath. It was much too long and complicated for Halo to follow along, even if he had heard it clearly. After about thirty seconds of chanting, the end of her wand glowed and, with a loud, grinding groan, the doors of Azkaban swung open.

The other side of the doors didn't look like much—all Halo could see was a little stone room that wasn't very well lit. Zoe turned around and gave a Sam a little smile before stepping inside, and Sam had no choice but to follow. She took a deep breath, glared over her right shoulder at the air where she thought the others was standing (they was actually closer to her left shoulder), and walked inside.

"Ready?" whispered Halo quietly, figuring that it was probably safe enough to whisper with no one around. Cassy disagreed.

"_Shh,_" she hissed, which annoyed Halo quite a bit. After all, _she_ was the one who had nearly given them away a minute ago, so he really didn't think she ought to be shushing anyone. Still, he knew his sister well enough to know she wasn't always the most reasonable person, especially when she got this nervous, so he just stopped whispering and let it drop. It wasn't a good idea to argue or fight in a place like this… even though he was _obviously_ right.

As they stood there watching, the doors of Azkaban slowly began to close, and they had to scramble to get inside before the door shut on them. Halo really wished that being invisible didn't mean having to rush through doorways quite so much. The only good thing was that at least they hadn't been trapped on the wrong side of any doorways… yet.

Halo glumly wondered how he'd ever thought this would be a good idea. It had seemed so much easier when they were planning it back in Hogwarts.

He realized that he was distracting himself with useless thoughts, so he shook his head to clear it and focused on the room they'd just entered. His eyes adjusted quickly, probably because he was so used to it, living in a dungeon and all, and he saw that the room was almost empty. There were uncomfortable-looking stone benches against the wall for visitors, but the dust on top of the benches made it pretty clear that Azkaban didn't get a whole lot of those. On the far side of the room sat two wizards in an alcove, separated from Zoe, Sam, and the invisible children by bars made of what looked like black crystal. It reminded Halo a bit of the ticket offices at the old muggle movie theatres that Father liked to take him to, although Halo rather doubted these wizards were selling tickets. One had taken Sam's wand for safekeeping and was filling out paperwork with a look of total boredom on his face, while the other, older wizard ignored them all, his long nose buried deep in the latest issue of _Witch Weekly_.

"Name?" Halo heard the younger wizard ask in a bored voice.

"Samantha," Sam replied, picking at her blue hair and not looking at the man.

"And your _last_ name?" He asked, sounding annoyed. Maybe he thought Sam was messing with him, although of course she wasn't. Halo knew all too well why she didn't want to say her father's name aloud.

"Fisher," Zoe said, stepping in when it was clear that Sam wasn't going to respond. "Her name is Samantha Fisher. She's here to see her father, Anton Fisher."

The wizard gave a bored nod and made a big deal of reading the list of approved visitors in front of him. Apparently Sam's name was on it, because he sighed and waved his wand lazily. A badge appeared out of nowhere, flying in a circle around Sam's head, almost as if it were excited about something, before dropping into her hand. It read _Samantha Fisher: Authorized Visitor._

"So, what happens if I don't have this badge?" Sam asked as she put it on, trying to sound casual.

"Oh, Ol' Azkaban wouldn't like that one bit," the other, older wizard said with a toothy grin, looking up from his magazine for the first time. "Best keep it on, missy."

Sam nodded and shrugged, as if it didn't matter, but she looked nervously over her shoulder. Halo got the hint, but there was nothing they could do about it now. Hopefully the cloak would be enough to protect them from whatever the old wizard was talking about. Still, he _really_ didn't like the way the old man talked about Azkaban as if it were almost… alive. Then again maybe he was just trying to scare Sam a little. Hopefully… hopefully that was it.

The younger wizard was giving Sam a distinctly unfriendly look, which Sam paid back with interest. Before Sam could open her mouth to say some words that eleven-year-olds probably shouldn't say, Zoe steered her towards the far door. Halo, Cassy and Albus crept forward quietly, making sure they weren't too far behind. None of them wanted to have to hurry through any more doorways.

Just as Zoe reached the door and was about to open it, the older wizard looked up from his magazine for the second time. "Hold on a moment," he said, closing his magazine with obvious reluctance and slowly shuffling to his feet. "There's one more formality to get out of the way."

Zoe frowned and said, "Is that really necessary, Auster? She doesn't have her wand, so what harm could she possibly do? Does this really look like the type of girl who would try to sneak dark magic inside Azkaban?"

"Yes," the younger wizard replied, glaring at Sam.

"Listen, chum, you can go fu-" Sam started to say, but Zoe wisely put her hand over the girl's mouth before any more letters came out.

Auster ignored the whole exchange; he was too busy shuffling around his little office, looking for his wand. He grumbled to himself for nearly thirty seconds before he found it. He grinned in triumph and shared with the others how it had been in his back pocket the whole time.

They were not overly impressed.

"Hem, well now, what's that spell again?" Auster asked no one in particular, scratching his mostly bald head. "Ah yes. _Specialis Revelio_!"

Halo immediately knew they were in trouble. Professor Dimock had mentioned that charm in class the other day, saying that it was used to detect the presence of magic. Albus's cloak might make them invisible, but it still had to have a magical aura that would give them away for sure.

Sure enough, the end Auster's wand flared yellow for half a second. Halo gulped nervously and got ready to run.

"Aha!" cackled Auster in triumph, "I knew it. There _IS_ a faint aura here. It's coming from, let's see… the girl's hair!"

Halo was so surprised that he nearly gave them away by gasping, but he managed to stay quiet. Somehow, it seemed, the old man's spell hadn't detected them… but why not? The cloak should have been detected, shouldn't it? Halo just couldn't figure out what had happened.

"No, really?" Zoe said, giving a very exaggerated gasp. "You mean her hair isn't really blue!? How incredible!" She rolled her eyes and Sam gave a nervous laugh, but her heart wasn't in it. Like Halo, she had probably thought the others had been discovered.

"Bah, fine, off you go then," Auster grumbled, sitting back down and disappearing behind his magazine. Zoe pushed the door open, walking forward into the dark hallway beyond. Sam, Cassy, Albus and a very shaken Halo followed behind.

The halls of Azkaban, it seemed, were always cold and dark, even during the middle of the day. It had probably been designed that way for the Dementors, the horrible soul-sucking monsters who had guarded the prisoner for hundreds of years. As they moved away from the small room by the front gate, Halo almost immediately lost all sense of where he was. That scared him, because they couldn't have taken more than twenty steps, but when passed the first intersection where the hallway split off in four directions, he realized he had no idea which way they had come from. Had they turned, or had they not? Why couldn't he remember?

Halo thought he was the only one confused until Sam asked, "Uh, Zoe, did we…?"

"Lost, kid?" Zoe asked, chuckling a little. "Don't worry about it. This place has strong and ancient magic, which makes it a perfect prison. It's very easy to get lost, unless you have one of these." Zoe showed Sam the charm around her neck, which was carved in the shape of a rune.

"Wonderful," Sam muttered, looking over her shoulder, clearly wondering if Halo and the others were still there or if they were lost somewhere, wandering aimlessly around magical passages of Azkaban.

"Don't worry," Zoe said, misinterpreting Sam's nervousness. "Stick with me and I'll lead you right to your father."

"Even better," grumbled Sam, sounding thoroughly unexcited. They continued on in silence, turning left. At least, Halo was pretty sure they had turned left… or had it been right? He was trying his best, but he just couldn't keep track.

They passed several occupied cells with jail bars made of black crystal, but Halo didn't pay them much attention. Zoe was moving pretty fast, and Halo was terrified of being left behind. If they got lost, even for a second, they might never find their way out of Azkaban. So, even though he was more than a little curious about who was in the cells and why, he didn't do anything except give a few of them a quick glance or two. He looked longer at the witches, wondering if one of them was maybe J.B.'s mother, stuck in a place like this for something she hadn't done. Halo didn't know what she looked like, though, so he really had no idea if he passed her or not. Most of prisoner didn't really look like anything special, which surprised him a little. For whatever reason, Halo had expected them to be big and ugly, with warts or evil moustaches or eyes patches or… well, _something_ at least. That was how you knew who the bad people were in the stories. The men and women in Azkaban, though, mostly looked like any other grownup, except a bit sadder. Halo frowned and shook his head, troubled. Was _nothing_ in real life the way it was in the stories? The "good guys" did bad things sometimes, the "bad guys" looked just like everyone else, and no one seemed to live happily ever after. It was pretty depressing.

None of the prisoners said anything or called out to Sam or Zoe as they walked by, and before long they reached a dark staircase with wide, shallow steps.

"We have to climb, don't we?" Sam asked, sounding a million miles from excited.

"Up to the sixth floor," Zoe responded cheerfully. "Now come on, walking is good for you."

Sam gave Zoe a withering look which the Auror happily ignored, setting off up the stairs. Sam and the others followed with less enthusiasm.

Halo spent most of the climb worrying that he would trip over Cassy or Albus and pull the cloak right off of them, but by moving very, very carefully they reached the sixth floor without issue. Halo was quite proud of himself, but also a little ashamed that he had such a hard time moving under the cloak. It was a lot harder than it looked from the outside. Still, he bet _Harry Potter_had never had trouble moving under the cloak the way he did. It just wasn't fair.

Halo wished he could have a few seconds to catch his breath and calm down a little, but Zoe immediately set off down the hallway, and the children had to either follow her or get left behind. Most likely, the magic of Azkaban would get them all turned around and Halo, Cassy and Albus would never find their way out again if they didn't start moving right away.

Halo decided he really wasn't _that_tired.

The sixth floor was pretty different from the first floor. The cells on the first floor were mostly open, with the walls of the cells made of jail bars the way they were in the muggle movies. On the sixth floor, though, the walls of the prison cells were made instead of thick, dark stone, and each cell had its own metal door. The cells also seemed much larger, although Halo couldn't tell exactly how big they were from the outside because all the doors were shut. It probably meant that the prisoners on this floor were going to be here a lot longer than the prisoners on the first floor. Most likely, these witches and wizards were never going to leave their cells. It made him sad to think about, even though they had probably all done terrible things to get locked up here. He already hated Azkaban after being there for only a few minutes; the thought of being locked away here _forever_ was too horrible to even think about.

Zoe slowed her pace a little as they twisted their way through the corridors, and she kept glancing back at Sam to see if she was okay. The thing was, Sam was far from okay. She had kept it together pretty well up until now, but the moment they'd reached the sixth floor her face had gone white, and she had started shaking. It reminded Halo a bit of how Cleo got sometimes when she was scared, and he wished he could do something to help her. The only good thing, Halo supposed, was that Sam's magic wasn't unstable the way Cleo's was, so she probably wouldn't hurt anyone. Then he immediately felt guilty for thinking that about Cleo. It wasn't her fault that she had trouble controlling her magic.

Halo wasn't sure why he was thinking about Cleo at a time like this; maybe it was just because he worried about her a lot. Now that he had seen Azkaban with his own eyes, he couldn't bear to think of her spending even one night locked up in this place. How could Courtney, Cassy or any of the others have really thought it would be a good idea to get her sent here? He wouldn't let it happen, not ever.

Halo was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn't hear the strange whistling coming from one the cells until they were right next to it. Zoe scowled and tried to hurry past the metal door, but Sam didn't follow immediately. She was already freaked out, and now she stood staring at the door, transfixed by the eerie, haunting tune that whoever was inside was whistling. Halo wanted to move past the door was fast as he could, but Cassy and Albus also seemed fascinated by the sound. As they listened, the sound changed slightly. A harsh, scrapping sound joined the whistling, and it sounded to Halo as if someone was running their fingernails down a chalkboard. Halo was puzzled for a moment before he realized that was more or less what it was. Whoever was inside the cell must be scrapping their long fingernails against the bars, all the time whistling the creepiest tune Halo had ever heard. It made him wanted to run far, far away and never look back.

"Rabastan," Zoe called out, her voice harsh and firm. "I suppose you have a reason for disturbing everyone again. What is it this time?"

"Birds," croaked a voice from the other side of the metal door, and the scrapping of nails continued. "Little birds, flying here and there, swimming in streams they shouldn't."

"Uh huh," Zoe said, unimpressed. "Well, if I see any birds, I'll be sure to tell them to leave you-"

"YOU'VE SEEN HER!" Rabastan yelled suddenly, and there was a crash from the inside of the cell. Halo couldn't see what was happening, because the metal door was shut tight, but he would have bet that Rabastan had just hurled himself against the bars of his cells. "I know you've seen her, I can taste it. I can taste her fire on you, little birds."

"Let's go, kid," Zoe said, actually reaching out and taking Sam's hand, "just Ignore him. Rabastan Lestrange is nothing but a raving madman."

Sam nodded and let herself be led away, but she was clearly shaken. Rabastan started howling in his cell as Sam and Zoe moved on, followed by Halo and the others. What anyone else was thinking Halo couldn't guess, but his own mind was spinning. Rabastan Lestrange… he _knew_that name. That man, the crazy murderer running his nails against the bars of his cell was Cleo's _uncle_. Halo hadn't known that he had survived the battle of Hogwarts, but apparently he had.

Well, some of him at least. His mind clearly wasn't all there, and Halo had no idea if he was shouting was total gibberish or not. Whichever it was, Rabastan wasn't done yet.

"A circle… a circle has no beginning or end, does it, little birds?" He shouted as they moved away from his cell. "Blackest night is circles on circles; questions that are always spinning. One day you will need your answers, you'll need your little lights. Then, my little birds, you'll flying back to my waiting jaws. Then, _Potter_, I will swallow you whole. Circles on circles on circles. Spin spin."

Up until that point, Halo had been hoping that Rabastan was just shouting nonsense, but he moment he said _Potter_ he knew that wasn't true. Somehow, sitting in his cell, Rabastan _knew_ that Albus and the others were there. Halo didn't know how that was possible, since even the old wizard's detection charm hadn't found them, but what other explanation was there? He had said Potter; he'd actually _said_it.

"What was that?" Sam asked, her voice shaking with fright. "Who is that creep?"

"Don't worry about him," Zoe said, although she didn't sound entirely convinced. "Rabastan has been in Azkaban a long time, far longer than is healthy, really. The Dementors took half of his mind back in the old days, and the fall of Voldemort took other half."

"But he said the name Potter…" Sam said, looking over her shoulder urgently. Halo doubted she was actually concerned about Albus, since she was wasn't even really friends with him, but she was definitely creeped out.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Zoe said firmly. "He talks to _Potter_ a lot, as well as his dead brother and his dead master. You see, Harry Potter is the one who arrested him, and he was the one who killed Voldemort in the end. He's totally delusional, kid. Harry Potter clearly isn't here, is he? There's no reason to listen to his nonsense."

Sam nodded, somewhat convinced, but Halo was not. No matter what Zoe might say, it sure didn't seem like a coincidence. Rabastan had known they were there, and he had spoken to Albus directly. He couldn't even imagine what Albus might be thinking, but personally Halo couldn't wait to leave this place behind and never, ever come back.

Thankfully they did not have much farther to go, because less than a minute later Zoe slowed to a halt in front of a metal door. It looked exactly like all the cells they had passed before, but they were here at last. Above the door, in faded silver letters, was written _63-B Anton Fisher_.

"We're here," Zoe said, placing a sympathetic hand on Sam's shoulder, which the girl was quick to shrug off. Now that they'd arrived, Sam's mood had gone jet black. She said nothing, she just kept staring at the name above the door as if she wanted nothing more than to rip the letters off one by one with her bare hands.

"I'll wait outside for you to finish," Zoe said calmly, ignoring Sam's anger. "I'll also cast a noise cancelling charm on the cell, so you'll have a little privacy. I won't hear anything you say to your father in case you... yell."

"Good," Sam muttered angrily, not bothering to say thank you. "Well, I guess I better get it over with, right?"

Zoe gave a sad smile and reached into her robes, pulling out a long, black key. She put it in the lock, and it gave a soft click. Zoe pulled the handle, and the door swung open silently. Sam took a deep, shuddering breath and, step by hesitant step, stepped inside the cell, followed closely by Halo, Albus and Cassy who did not want to be left outside. Zoe closed the door behind them with a snap, and Halo faintly heard her mutter a spell. Suddenly everything inside the cell went completely silent, and the sound of their breathing was magnified so that it seemed to echo off of every wall.

They were in a stone room lit by a single lamp on the wall, which really didn't give off much light. The room was divided in half by bars of black crystal, just like the ones on the first floor of the prison. There was nothing on this side of the bars except for a single chair, but on the far side of the bars was a simple bed, a simple toilet, a small table and a plain wooden chair, upon which sat a man about the same age as Halo's own father. He was a tall, with a slightly unkempt black beard and long, tangled hair that had not been cut in some time. He'd probably been handsome once, although it was a little hard for Halo to tell stuff like that about grownups, but in any case he was handsome no longer. His face was too thin, and his skin had the sickly colour of someone who didn't see much sunlight… or any, actually. He had a book in his hand, and was reading it so intently that he didn't look up immediately.

"Isn't a little early for my evening mea-" Anton Fisher said in a rich, deep voice that probably would have put Halo at ease if he knew nothing about the man who it belonged to. Fisher looked up from his book, and nearly fell out of his chair. He dropped the book, forgotten, on the table in front of him and sprang to his feet.

"Sammy!" he cried, looking completely overjoyed. "Is that really you? Is that really my little Sammy?"

"D-don't call me that," Sam said, back up against the wall, eyes darting around wildly. "No one… you can't call me that. D-don't-"

"You're here," Fisher said, grinning like a nutter, "All this time I've hoped, but you never came. I thought you'd never…"

"I shouldn't have," Sam said, her voice suddenly growing hard. "I shouldn't have come…" She trailed off. Halo knew he had to do something to keep her from she was losing her cool, so he pulled the cloak off of the three of them.

If Anton Fisher was surprised that three other children suddenly appeared next to his cell, he didn't show it. Honestly, he might not have even noticed. He was so focused on his daughter that nothing else seemed real.

"Little Sammy," he said dreamily, "You have blue hair, just like you always talked about. Ever since you were five years old and saw that picture of the Holyhead Harpies in the _Daily Prophet_, you and Eliza wanted to transfigure your hair. Do you remember when you two used to sit at the table, trying to decide which colour you were going to make your hair when you were older? You could never decide what you wanted, could you Sammy? But Eliza could. Blue… it was always blue hair for her."

"Don't… how can you SAY HER NAME?" Sam shouted, her fists curled into tight ball. She looked like she wanted to lunge at her father, but the bars separated them. Halo felt incredibly guilty for bringing Sam here. This was all his fault, but what could he do? He exchanged looks with Albus and Cassy, but they didn't seem to have any bright ideas either.

"Mr. Fisher, we need to talk to you," Cassy tried to say, taking a step forward to get his attention. Halo and Albus, meanwhile, went over to Sam to try and calm her down a little… but she was too far gone to calm down easily.

"Sammy…" Mr. Fisher murmured, ignoring Cassy and staring at his daughter as if he still couldn't believe she was there. Just like that, Sam snapped. She grabbed Albus's wand out of his pocket before either Halo or Albus knew what was going, and pointed it at her father.

"Sammy Fisher died the same night as her sister," Sam snarled. "But there should have been a third death that night, right _Daddy_? This is a few years late in coming, but better late than never, right?"

"No, Sam, don't-" Halo tried to say, reaching out to grab her, but it was no use. Sam was bigger and stronger than he was, and he couldn't reach the wand in time.

For a fraction of a second, the whole cell was completely silent. Anton Fisher stared at his daughter with a wand in her hand with calm, contented look on his face. Sam raised Albus's wand and said just two words.

"_Avada Kedavra._"


	47. Chapter 42

Chapter 42 The Harrowing

Green light filled the room as a silent bolt of green light flew past Halo's ear and blew his hair into his face. Sam's spell hit her father squarely in the chest and he fell backwards with a gasp. He did not stand up.

"What have you done!" shouted Cassy as she rounded on Sam, who let Albus's wand fall from her limp fingers. Albus picked it up, but he looked like he didn't really want it anymore. Halo was just as shocked as the others, but he couldn't really do anything but stand there. She had… she had actually… Sam didn't look at any of them, instead she kept her eyes fixed on her father's body. She didn't look particularly happy or sad to Halo, just empty and numb the way that Cleo so often looked. Halo couldn't help thinking that this was all his fault. He'd known the history between Sam and her father, but he had convinced her to come here anyways. He should have known tha-

Inside the cell, Anton Fisher gave a shuddering gasp and slowly sat up, shaken but very much alive. Sam made an indistinct little noise and sank to her knees, putting her head in her hands. Halo wasn't sure if she was angry that her father was still alive, relieved that she wasn't a murderer, or both.

"You should be… I don't understand," Cassy stammered, turning back to face Fisher. "She used the unforgivable Killing Curse, and it never fails."

"Almost never," corrected Albus quietly, although he seemed as shocked as the rest of them.

"You are correct, young lady," Fisher said, rising to his feet. The mad look in his eye had vanished, and he seemed calmer now. "A true killing curse _is_ always fatal, but that was not the real thing. To truly cast any unforgivable curse, you need more magical power than an eleven-year-old possesses. Plus, more importantly, you need to really _mean_ them."

"I meant it," Sam spat, not looking up from where she was sitting. "Believe me, I meant it."

"Maybe," Fisher said, shrugging as if it didn't really matter. "Perhaps you did, because it nearly worked. Most witches your age couldn't have given me a nosebleed with that curse, much less kill me." Fisher didn't sound upset that he had nearly died. In fact, Halo thought he sounded a bit proud, as if he was happy that his daughter had grown strong enough to nearly kill him.

"You seem… different now," Cassy said slowly, exchanging nervous glances with her brother. Halo agreed. Anton Fisher seemed to be a completely different person from the ranting nutter they'd first met barely, what, a minute ago? Halo wasn't so sure he liked the change.

"Indeed," Fisher said slowly, glancing at Sam for a second before looking back at Cassy. "You must understand, young lady, I haven't seen my family even once since I was imprisoned. I've dreamed of seeing my daughter again every single day, but I had given up hope it would actually happen. When she was suddenly there I… forgot myself. I assure you, there is nothing more sobering than having your daughter try to kill you."

Everyone turned to look at Sam, but she did not turn to look at any of them.

"But enough of that," Fisher continued, turning to truly look at Halo and Albus for the first time. "Tell me, why in Merlin's name would three children sneak into Azkaban to speak to me? That is why you are here, is it not? My daughter may have come to kill me, and I must say she has a rather good reason for that, but you three must have come here for something else. Tell me, why are you here?"

Halo knew he should speak, but he just couldn't find the words. He was too uneasy. Fisher _seemed_ normal enough on the surface, but that only made him seem more disturbing. How could this man who seemed so smart, so well-spoken and so… together have done the things he had done? How could a man like this have killed his own daughter? It just didn't make any sense.

Cassy seemed to sense that Halo was struggling, so she stepped in. "Mr. Fisher, we came to ask you about your work at the Ministry."

"My work," Fisher repeated slowly, his voice totally neutral.

"Yes sir. We… well, we wanted to know if you knew anything about blood magic."

The room was silent for a long time. Fisher stared at Cassy for so long that she grew uncomfortable and looked away.

"Blood magic?" Fisher said, as if the words pained him to say. "Why would you ask me that?"

"Because we think someone might try and use it to hurt a lot of people," Halo said, deciding he had to talk. After all, this was his plan, he couldn't stand there all day gaping like a dolt. Fisher might make him uncomfortable, but this whole thing was still his idea, so he couldn't let Cassy do all the talking just because he was scared. "They're going to use it to set the sky on fire."

Halo secretly hoped Fisher would look surprised, or maybe even laugh at him and tell him he was mad, but he didn't. Instead he just put his hand over his face and said, "So, it's finally happening, is it?"

Halo, Cassy, and Albus looked at each other nervously. Whatever each of them had expected him to say, that wasn't it. Halo wished he'd said something like, _Don't worry, children, blood magic isn't real and there's absolutely nothing to worry about,_ but no such luck. Halo knew it was just wishful thinking anyways. They were well past the point where it might be all made up.

"Where to start?" Fisher said, sinking into the chair next to his little table on the other side of the bars that separated them. "I suppose I should start from the beginning, so you will understand what happened and why. I'm not saying you'll approve, but at least you'll understand." Halo was confused for a second, until he realized that Fisher was only really talking to his daughter. Sam was the one who needed to understand, the rest of them didn't really matter much to Fisher.

"On the first of August, 1997, the Ministry of Magic fell to Lord Voldemort," Fisher began after taking a deep breath. "I was not working there at the time, for I was still at Hogwarts, but everyone I talked to told me the same thing about that time; that it was the most scared they had ever been in their entire lives. The Ministry's mission changed overnight, going from fighting Voldemort and his Death Eaters to tracking down and capturing Muggleborns, wand-stealers, and your father." Fisher nodded at Albus, who gave a nervous little nod in return. Albus hadn't introduced himself to Fisher, but the man obviously knew who he was anyways. _Everyone_ always knew who Albus Potter was.

"No one knew who was under the Imperious Curse or who truly supported the new regime," Fisher continued, "so everyone just kept their head down and did as they were told for fear that they or their families would be targeted next. At the time, they didn't really have any other choice. The whole Ministry took part in some… questionable practices, but none more than the Department of Mysteries. During that time, the Department of Mysteries was led by a man named Rabastan Lestrange, and it began researching things that had never been researched before and should never be researched again."

Halo started at the mention of the name of the raving madman they had met just minutes before. That man had been in charge in the Department of Mysteries? That _really_ didn't sound good.

"But it did not last. As I'm sure you know, Voldemort's reign ended after less than a year, when Harry Potter defeated Voldemort and restored the Ministry to something akin to what it had been. Kingsley Shacklebolt was elected Minister of Magic, a post he has held for nearly twenty years, and he set about cleaning house, as it were. The truth is, though, that there are simply not enough wizards in Britain to fire the entire Ministry for what happened during those months, and because of that many were pardoned. The entire Department of Mysteries, however, was relieved of their duties when it was learned what they had done during that time."

"Just what were they researching, sir?" Cassy asked, unable to contain her curiosity. She was just like Rose sometimes. Well, okay, she wasn't _that _bad at keeping quiet.

"Trust me, children," Fisher said, his eyes dark and scary, "when I say that if that if you knew everything that they researched, you would not sleep well for a month. Plus, it is not really relevant, so I will spare you the details and move on." Cassy didn't look happy, but Halo exchanged relieved looks with Albus. Neither of them wanted to go without sleep for a whole month. Sam showed no reaction, in fact she didn't even look up. She had her head in her hands, and she could have been asleep for all the reaction she was showing to her father's words. Still, Halo knew Sam well enough to know she was listening to every word.

"Two years later, I graduated from Hogwarts as Head Boy and went to work at the Ministry. I was assigned to the Department of Mysteries, which had been completely remanned after the war. A few of the new Unspeakables were from different department in the Ministry, but most of us were new hires fresh out of school. We were all so inexperienced that I quickly became one of the leading member of the Department of Mysteries. It was an exciting time, and there was so much do to and explore." As Fisher spoke, his face showed a hint of his old enthusiasm. Halo could tell just how pleased young Anton Fisher must have been with himself to be so successful at such a young age.

"The good times lasted for a few years. I married a girl I had known from my school days, Wendy Crabbe. She was the last member of a very old family, and while most of the family had been associated with the dark arts, my wife wasn't really that sort of person. Honestly, she couldn't hurt a fly. I was excelling at work, and we had two beautiful daughters, Samantha and-"

"Don't," Sam said, looking up long enough to give her father a murderous glare, "Don't you say her fucking name."

In Halo experience, most fathers would have been horrified to hear their eleven-year-old child use that sort of language, but Fisher simply inclined his head to his daughter and did not say her sister Eliza's name aloud.

"In any case, that soon changed. Several years after the end of the war, in one of the many backrooms in the Department of Mysteries, we discovered notes on secret research that had been forgotten when Voldemort's supporters fell. It was from his last days in power, and the research notes contained plans for a secret project called the Harrowing. It was, simply put, a series of plans on how to destroy all life on this world."

The children were too stunned to even say _what!? _They simply stared at Anton Fisher in disbelief. Why would anyone, even Voldemort, do such a thing?

"To this day, I'm not really sure what his plan was," Fisher continued with a sigh, probably guessing what they were all thinking. "Voldemort always wanted to _control_ the wizarding world, not destroy it, so it made no sense for him to sanction this sort of thing. If I had to guess, I would say he and his followers were looking for a way to eradicate the muggles without harming any wizards—selective genocide, as it were. If that truly was his goal, he never achieved it."

"How can you be sure?" Albus asked quietly.

"Because I know that research better than anyone," Fisher said in a hoarse whisper, as if talking had become difficult for him. "When we discovered the plans, a decision was made that a group of us would study them thoroughly to see just how far they had gotten. The idea, at least originally, was to learn about that sort of magic so that the Ministry could work to prevent something like that from happening in the future. I took charge of the group, thinking it would make a difference."

"What happened? What went wrong?" Halo asked.

"We found too much," Fisher said, glancing at Halo with a haunted look in his eyes. "We built off the research we found in the Harrowing and found _several_ different ways in which a small group of wizards working together could kill millions. Some of the techniques were so deadly that could successfully be used to destroy all life on Earth—wizard, muggle, and animal alike. We presented our findings to the Head of our Department, and I hoped that would be the end of it, but it was not to be. The Minister of Magic himself reviewed our research and asked us to come up with a way to prevent these kind of disasters, and I was again put in charge of the program. It was an honour for someone so young, or so everyone kept telling me. Truthfully, though, it was torture. Imagine spending your whole day looking at various ways that you, your loved ones, and everyone you know could die, knowing just how powerless you were to do anything? Month after month it goes on, year after year, and you never seem to make any progress. The truth is, there is simply no way to stop a madman who truly wants to hurt people. There are too many weaknesses in our defences, and we wizards have too much power. I-I couldn't deal with it, and… well, it destroyed me."

Fisher paused and glanced at his daughter again, but she didn't turn to look at him. He took a shuddering breath that looked like it hurt and said, "At first, it was just nightmares, my family dying horribly because I couldn't save them. I stopped being able to sleep without a sleeping potion, and even those didn't always keep the dreams away. Soon I started to avoid going home because it was hard to be around my family because of the nightmares. Instead, I started going to the muggle bars and drank until I forgot. It helped a little, but not enough, so I stayed out later and later and starting drinking more and more. Here's the thing about alcohol, children, it affects people in all sorts of different ways. Some people are happy when they are drunk, some are sad. I, well, I am an angry, violent drunk. I should have stopped the first time that I-I went too far, but I… I just couldn't. I wasn't strong enough to pull myself out of my despair, and the nightmares never want away. It got worse and worse until finally I did something that could not be undone. Now one daughter is dead and the other wants to kill me, all because I was too weak to face my fears. I-I am so sorry, Sammy," Fisher finished, tears running down his face.

No one spoke for a good long time, but Sam again didn't even bother to look up at her father. Halo tried to think of what he would do if he were in the same situation. Would he forgive his father, even a little bit? Was his father capable of doing the horrible things Fisher had done? Halo didn't think so, but he wasn't a hundred percent sure. The thing that bothered Halo the most was that FIsher had referred to hitting his wife and children as "going too far." That was a_ bit_ of an understatement.

Honestly Halo didn't know what to think. All he knew for sure was that he wasn't going to drink alcohol… not ever.

As the silence stretched on, out of nowhere came a knock from the door behind them, and Halo, Cassy and Albus all jumped in surprise. They had been so wrapped up in Anton Fisher's story that they had totally forgotten that Zoe the Auror was standing right outside with nothing between them except a door and a silence spell that she could lift at any time. Halo hurried to grab the cloak off the ground, but it was on the other side of the room where they'd left it. He would never reach it in time if Zoe suddenly came inside.

"Everything alright, kid?" Zoe called from the other side of the door.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Sam called out slowly, as she lifted her head off of her hands for the first time, sounding anything but fine.

"You sure?" Zoe asked sceptically. "You don't sound… I mean… you've been in there a while. If you need-"

"I'm fine, really," Sam repeated, controlling her voice better the second time. "I just need a little longer."

"Sorry, kid, but your allotted time is almost-" Zoe started to say.

"Okay, I'll… I'll knock when I'm done. Please? Just a little more time," Sam pleaded. She didn't have the same sort of compelling tone that worked so well for Halo and Rose, but she said it with such raw desperation that Zoe just sighed quietly and said. "Alright, just a little longer. Knock when you're finished, kid." She muttered another quiet spell and replaced the silencing charm around Anton Fisher's cell.

"Better hurry up," Sam growled, looking at Halo sideways as she put her head back in her hands. "If you have any other questions for him, better ask them fast."

"We need to know more about what Blood Magic is and how it's used to hurt so many people," Halo said quickly, snatching up the cloak and moving to stand between Albus and Cassy in case they needed to disappear quickly.

"Oh, Blood Magic isn't inherently harmful," Fisher said. "Like any magic, it can be used for both good and evil. It's very ancient, but almost entirely forgotten in this part of the world. I had never heard of it before I found it mentioned in the Harrowing research, but we made it a priority to discover as much as we could. Unfortunately, the only research ever done in England was done by a man named Grayson Vance, and his published research was incomplete and fragmented. It was rumoured that his complete research existed somewhere, but it was never found."

"Actually, we found it in Hogsmede," Cassy said casually, trying to make it sound like she wasn't bragging. She failed.

"Really?" Fisher said, his eyes flashing for a moment with hunger and greed which made Halo uncomfortable. "Well, I don't suppose it matters now," Fisher sighed, the look in his eye fading away, although Halo couldn't get the image out if his head. "We knew enough about Blood Magic to know how it could be used to destroy us all. Simply put, it taps into the untapped magical energy that everyone has inside them."

"Untapped magical energy?" Cassy said frowning. "I've never heard of that."

"No, you wouldn't have, because modern magical theory tells us that blood and magic have nothing to do with each other." Fisher said. "On some level this is true, because there is no evidence to support the popular but misguided theory that a witch or wizard will be any more powerful because their blood is pure. The magic I am talking about, however, is different from the magic we normally use. From all the research we were able to do, the magic inside our physical bodies isn't used in traditional spellcasting, but rather seem to be nothing more than by-products of the fact that we are magical beings."

"Er, what?" Halo asked, feeling very confused. Fisher sighed, as if he'd expected the children to understand… whatever he'd just said.

"Imagine you are a painter, and you paint one day for hours and hours," Fisher said. "At the end of the day, you will have paint all over your hands and your clothes, even though you weren't intending to paint them at all. You were just painting the canvas. Magic is the same way. Every time you use your magic to cast a spell on someone or something, a little of the magic gets on you too. Because of that, our bodies are full of magic, but much like the paint that magic can't be used again. It is what we called spent magic. After all, you cannot just stick a brush on the stain of your sleeve and start painting again. Does that make more sense, young man?"

Halo glanced at Albus, who shrugged and nodded slightly. Halo wasn't sure he quite got it, but the explanation definitely hadn't made it_ less_ clear, so that was something.

"So the magic doesn't do anything?" Halo asked, just to make super sure.

"Yes and no," Fisher said with an annoying shrug. "Normal spells do not draw upon spent magic, but blood magic harnesses the spent magic in a wizard's body for energy. That is because Blood Magic spells are not like normal incantations, they are much more elaborate spells that will only active if certain conditions are met."

"Conditions? Like what?" Albus asked, frowning.

"Well, for example one of the simplest blood magic spells we discovered was a barrier spell, one that only let someone pass if they sprinkled some blood on a certain area."

"Gross," muttered Cassy, scowling. Halo knew his sister wasn't exactly the biggest fan of blood.

"Quite," agreed Fisher, "but surprisingly effective because it kept out less experienced wizards who didn't know what was required to break the barrier spell. Other spells included the creation of powerful constructs called golems, which were powered by blood gems placed directly inside their bodies. We never did find the spell of that one, but old stories are filled with tales. Unlike other wizard constructs whose enchantments faded over time, the gems could keep the golems running practically forever."

"Hurray for that," muttered Halo, thinking back on the golem in Vance's laboratory. Fisher gave him a strange look, but did not ask what he meant.

"There are many other uses for blood magic, too. We discovered a locator spells that will help you find your way back to someone no matter where they go. You see, as long as the right spell is cast beforehand using the power in a person's blood and the conditions to trigger the spell are met, blood magic could be used for almost anything."

"Even destroying the world, apparently," Cassy murmured.

"Indeed," Fisher said, that dark, haunted look returning to his eyes. "The trick behind that involves the most powerful use of blood magic—energy conversion."

"Energy conversion?" Halo asked confused. That sure didn't _sound _like the most powerful use, not compared to golems and all that other stuff.

"It is said that the secret to creating the fabled Philosopher's Stone involved Blood Magic, although needless to say we didn't find anything in our research. The Philosopher's Stone, at its basic level, is nothing more than a converter. Lead to gold, sickness to health… death to life. Blood magic, in theory at least, can do the same thing. That is how someone can set the sky on fire."

"Just by converting magic energy?" Cassy asked sceptically. "Forgive me, Mr. Fisher, but it can't be that simple."

Fisher smiled, but Halo didn't like his smile one bit. It seemed… cold somehow, and it gave Halo the willies. "You're a clever young woman, a Ravenclaw like me, no doubt."

"I'm in Ravenclaw, yes," Cassy said warily, careful not to say _like him_. Clearly she didn't want to say those words, and Halo really couldn't blame her. He was actually a little surprised to learn that Fisher had been a Ravenclaw. He had assumed he'd been a… well, never mind.

"You are quite right," Fisher said, "You can convert energy all you want, but unless you find a massive collections of energy it is unlikely to make a difference. Unfortunately, there are places with vast pools of magical energy all around Britain; all around the world in fact. The ancient rocks at Stonehenge are the most famous example of such collections in this country, but the truth is that the magic in that place faded long ago. Today, the greatest collection of magical energy in Britain is-"

"Hogwarts!" Halo said, slapping his forehead. "Of course. _That's_ why Lily was warned to protect the school."

"Indeed," Fisher said. If he was curious about who Lily was or what in Merlin's name Halo was even talking about, he didn't show it. "Hogwart's location was not chosen at random when it was founded. It was built on the site of one of the largest collections of magical power in Britain at the time, and that power has only grown as centuries of enchantments have been cast on the land. Today, Hogwarts has probably one of the ten largest concentrations of magical power in the whole world."

"Hogwarts is also very well protected, though," Cassy said, frowning, "Even Voldemort had a hard time breaking those defences."

"That is true, but I am simply telling you what is possible, not how it will be done," Fisher said. "If the right spells were performed on the grounds, all the magic used to shield and protect the school would be converted into whatever kind of energy the caster desired. If that much magic was fired into the sky it would ignite the atmosphere and burn away the ozone layer in almost instantaneously. Those that didn't die immediately would slowly be killed by the sun's radiation. Some wizards might survive by protecting themselves with magic and moving underground, but not many. Life on this world as we know it would end."

"We have to warn them," muttered Albus, turning to face Halo and Cassy. "If they professors know what might happen-"

"Who will believe us?" Halo asked. It wasn't that he didn't agree with Albus, he just doubted anyone would really take them seriously. "Plus, we don't even know for sure _who _is trying to do this."

"Maybe we do," Cassy said, struck by a sudden idea. "Mr. Fisher, is here any way that a person could have this kind of magic cast on them to make them a… a kind of bomb?"

"You're _joking_!" Halo shouted angrily. She couldn't…. she _still_ suspected Cleo?

"A bomb," mused Fisher. "Possibly, although we never read anything about such a spell. I do not think it likely, but without knowing more I cannot rule it out."

"See?" Halo said angrily, glaring daggers at his sister, "Cleo has nothing to do with this."

"He can't rule it out," Cassy shot back stubbornly, refusing to budge. Halo threw up his hands in disgust and turned away to face the left wall, but not before she angrily turned away to face the right wall. Cassy was being totally unfair, and Halo decided he was never going to talk to his sister ever again.

"So, erm, what is most likely way to pull this kind of thing off?" Albus asked, breaking up the awkward silence.

"The most likely scenario we came up with involved casting a series of blood spells around the target area in preparation," Fisher said. "The reason behind those spells was unclear in the research, as was the reason why the witch or wizard had to be killed in the rituals."

"Ritual killings, huh," Sam said, speaking for the first time in what seemed like forever. "Well I guess we have nothing to worry about yet. If wizards were being killed in a blood ritual, you can bet someone would know about it. Whoever it is must have not started that yet."

"I guess," Halo muttered, although he felt slightly uneasy. Something didn't fit right, but he couldn't place his finger on what. He wished it was easier to think, but being in Azkaban and Cassy, _especially_ Cassy, were really getting on his nerves and making it hard to think.

"Whoever is trying to do this would have to know what they're doing," Halo said slowly. "That would mean they probably have to be familiar with the research. Does the name Adam Lees mean anything to you?"

"Adam?" Fisher said, surprised." Of course. He was one of the members of our five-person team."

"I knew it!" Halo shouted. It all fit! "He's the one behind it all."

"I doubt it," Fisher said, sounding sure. "Our research always scared Adam, and he was always a good lad. I seriously doubt he would try to destroy the world."

Halo didn't respond, he was sure he was right. Fisher had been in Azkaban for years, and Lees might have changed. Plus, no one who tried to frame someone the way Lees had tried to frame Cleo was a _good lad_.

"Well great, I feel like we learned a bunch," Sam said, hopping to her feet and looking anywhere but at her father. "Hell, we even have a suspect. That was surprisingly more helpful then I though. Don't let any wizards be ritually murdered so crazy people can set the sky on fire. Got it. Good talk."

"Sammy…" Fisher said, a painful look in his eyes. "Please don't leave yet-"

Sam ignored her Father, giving Halo a meaningful look before moving to the outer door and knocking. Halo got the hint and threw the cloak over the three of them. He was still furious with Cassy, but he wasn't going to leave her outside the cloak where she would be caught and locked in Azkaban permanently. He wasn't _quite_ that upset, but he was pretty close.

Zoe opened the door, revealing a room that looked empty except for Sam and her father. She gave Sam a reassuring little smile that Sam didn't return, and gestured for her to come on out. Halo, Cassy and Albus hurried out as quickly and quietly as they could, but Sam paused on the doorway and looked back at her father.

"If I have my way, I'll never see you again," she said slowly, her voice completely flat and free of emotion. "But if I do, know one thing. I'll be older next time, and you can be sure I'll _mean_ it. Goodbye, Fisher." With that, Sam turned away from her father and did not look.

The walk back down to the first floor seemed much shorter, maybe because Halo was preoccupied with so much to think about. Sam was probably right, they were safe for the moment, and at least they knew what was coming. When wizards started dying that would mean it would mean that Less was almost ready. They had to make sure he didn't get near the castle again no matter what.

"You know, it wasn't just the Dementors that made Azkaban what it is," Zoe said, breaking the silences as they walked down the staircase. "There's something that's naturally depressing about this place."

"Really? Hadn't noticed," Sam muttered.

"No, I mean something magical," Zoe said with a soft laugh that didn't fit the fortress at all. "Did you ever wonder why Dementors were here to begin with?"

"Nope."

"Well, it's because they actually_ liked _this place. Even before it was a prison, Dementors made this island their home. It has a powerful reserve of negative energy, and it attracts them even without the despair of the prisoners. That's why it's impossible to find your way around without the help of a charm, and why everything is always so dark even during the day. It's like a permanent spirit of misery lives in this place."

"Wonderful, can we leave now?" Sam said. "I'm not sure I need any more misery."

"Sure, you can leave, but I'm afraid _we_ aren't going anywhere," Zoe said with a sigh. "I have another month before I rotate out."

"Er, right, sorry," Sam said awkwardly, because that wasn't what she'd meant by _we_ at all. "That's too bad."

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and made their way through onto the first floor. Halo couldn't be sure, but it seemed like they were going a different way than before. Maybe he was just imagining it, or maybe it was crazy way this place worked, but the prisoners they passed seemed totally different than before.

They finally reached the door leading out, and it was definitely a different door than the one they had entered. This door was bigger, and on either side stood distinctly unfriendly gargoyle statues. Not that Halo had ever really encountered friendly gargoyles, the one by the Headmistresses Office back in Hogwarts was a real you-know-what, but these two were extra mean. He was glad they were under the cloak, because he didn't want those gargoyles looking at them. Statues or not, they made him uneasy.

Sam didn't like the statues much easier, but Zoe put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and guided her past them, opening the door with a wave of her wand. Halo, Cassy and Albus hurried closely behind to make sure they didn't get left behind, but just as they passed between the gargoyles all three slammed into what felt like an invisible wall. Halo and the others stumbled a little, but they all kept their balance, and somehow, as if by magic, the cloak didn't slip off of any of them.

That was only a small victory, however. Somewhere high above them, a bell rang out throughout Azkaban.

_Gong._

"What the…" Zoe said, turning around suddenly.

"What's happening?" Sam asked, sounding as nervous as Halo had ever heard her.

_Gong._

"The fortress senses an intruder, although that seems impossible," Zoe said, frowning back down the hallway. "Don't worry kid, I'll get you out of here safely and we'll catch whatever idiot tried to get in before they do anything."

"But-" Sam said, eyes wide as Zoe grabbed her by the arm and led her away. Halo hadn't really been sure she actually cared about them at all, but she actually looked really worried. It would have cheered him up if it weren't for… bigger problem. 

_Gong._

Zoe and Sam were gone and the door they couldn't reach closed in front of them slammed shut with a clang. They were now trapped inside Azkaban with no way out.

_Gong. _


	48. Chapter 43

Chapter 43 Bonds of Fate

Halo, Cassy and Albus all stood there and just stared at the closed door for a second or two. It took each of them at least that long to process how utterly screwed they were. Albus was the first to overcome his shock, and he reached forward under the cloak and grabbed Halo's arm, shaking him slightly.

"Hey, we… we really need to go," Albus said, his voice shaking even though he was trying to be brave. Halo didn't disagree, but there was just one little problem.

"There's nowhere _to_ go," Cassy said, saying aloud what Halo had been thinking. She spoke in a slightly hysterical voice that made Halo nervous. Cassy was smart, tough and not easily rattled, but he knew from experience if something_ did _happen that was bad enough to shake her confidence she didn't handle it well… at all. Clearly being trapped inside Azkaban was one of those things. Normally Halo, being Halo, would have done anything to try and keep her spirits up, but he was still furious at his sister for suspecting Cleo. Halo rarely held onto his anger and frustration, but this time he did.

"Well what should we do then? Do you think it's a good idea to twiddle our thumbs and stare at a closed door that we can't reach?" Halo asked waspishly, surprising himself a little by how mean he sounded. He almost didn't recognize his own voice, but he was so mad that he didn't really care.

"Harry Lawrence Wiggins, do _not_ use that tone with me," Cassy said loudly, doing her best impression of their mother. Halo wasn't all that impressed. After all, Mother almost never yelled at him; she was far too busy yelling at Cassy.

"Guys, we have to stay quiet and try and find a way to-" Albus murmured quietly, trying to calm them down. He failed.

"I can say whatever I want," Halo said, not caring that he sounded really, really childish. "You're not the boss of me!"

"Seriously," Albus said desperately. "We have to-"

"Stop acting like a brat," Cassy snapped. "What is wrong with you, Halo?"

"What's wrong with me?" Halo snarled angrily; "What's wrong with you!? You're the one trying to blame-"

"SHUT IT, BOTH OF YOU," Albus shouted so loudly that the others immediately stopped talking. Halo had never heard Albus raise his voice, except maybe once or twice to yell at James. Halo and Cassy hadn't been as annoying as _James_, had they?

"We have to get out of here right _now_," Albus said firmly. His nervousness had vanished, and, despite everything that was happening, he seemed totally calm. "The Aurors will be looking for intruders, and they might be here any minute. I don't know why you two are acting like nutters, but this really isn't the place to start shouting. Don't forget we're in Azkaban!"

Halo nodded silently. Now that he'd had a second to calm down, he had no idea what had gotten into him. Starting a shouting match with Cassy was without a doubt the dumbest thing he had ever done, and he'd done some pretty stupid things recently.

"You're right, Albus, we can finish our talk later," Cassy said quietly, her voice barely louder than a whisper. The way she said it, though, made it clear that she was not going to forget it anytime soon. That was fine with Halo, he had _plenty_ more to say to his sister. "Right now we have to try and get out. Any ideas?"

"We can't really go back," Halo whispered, "The hallways are designed to trick us. We'll most likely never find our way to another exit if we turn around."

"I don't think we have a choice," Albus said, reaching out with his left hand to see if the invisible barrier was still there in front of them. It was. "These gargoyle statues aren't going to let us pass."

"God, I hate gargoyles," muttered Cassy. Halo very much agreed, but he didn't say so. He didn't want to let his sister know he agreed with her about anything. Petty and childish? Yes, but Halo was fine with that. He hadn't gotten to yell at her enough.

"I guess we have no choice then," Halo said quietly. "We have to turn around and hope for the best."

"But that's…" Cassy mumbled, sounding as scared as Halo could ever remember his big sister sounding. She clearly did not want to go back in to the main part of Azkaban. "F-fine," she said at last. "I guess we don't really have a choice. Let's-" She stopped speaking suddenly as the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall. Halo, Albus, and Cassy began creeping away from the door as two wizards who Halo didn't recognize came running up.

"Nothing here either," one of the wizards said, frowning. "You reckon it might have been a false alarm?"

"What, a cat or something?" his partner replied laughing. "This is Azkaban. Nothing comes to this island by accident. It's probably another stray Dementor trying to move back home. It happens from time to time. All the exits are sealed now, so it'll be easy to find it and expel it, just like always."

The wizards moved on, but Halo remained rooted to the spot. If all the exits were sealed, what could they possibly do? Halo was strong for his age, but he didn't know any spells to break the kind of magic this place had. They were trapped, and Halo knew that it was all his fault. It hadn't been his plan, if he hadn't insisted that-

"Let's go," Albus whispered quietly, nudging Halo and Cassy and interrupting the dark thoughts running through their heads. "If we follow them, we might be able to sneak out."

It was a longshot, but it was the best plan they had. The three of them started after the two wizards, who were already turning left down the hallway. They tried to catch up, but the hallways of Azkaban were full of twists and turns and Halo and the others soon lost sight of the Aurors. Had they turned left just now, or had it been right?

Just like that, they were completely and totally lost.

"Now what do we do?" Cassy whispered shrilly, clearly very frightened.

"How should I know?" Halo whispered back. He would never have admitted it aloud, but the fact that his fearless sister was so scared terrified him. What was going to happen to them now?

"We have to keep going," Albus said, somehow still sounding calm. "It's probably best to stay quiet, in case there's anyone around listening. Follow me."

The cloak didn't really have much room under it, but up until now Cassy had been in a little in front, leading the younger children. Now Albus led the way under the cloak, and the Wiggins children followed behind him silently. Halo wasn't sure if Albus had any sort of plan or not, and he decided not to ask. If he didn't, Halo would prefer to not know that. Albus's confidence made him feel slightly better.

They made their way through the hallways of the first floor, which were pretty calm. The prisoners were quiet in their cells, and Halo didn't see any guards walking around. Halo didn't know where they were—maybe they were watching the exits or something—but he was glad they didn't run into any. They might be invisible, but there was still a chance that someone might hear them moving around under the cloak. Given how rotten their luck had been recently, he didn't want to take any chances.

They wandered the twisted halls of Azkaban for a minute, then another… and another. Halo quickly lost track of how long they walked, but it was long enough that his legs began to hurt. At some point, the bell above them stopped ringing, but Halo wasn't sure whether that meant anything or not. Had the Aurors decided that it was a false alarm, or were they still looking? Did it even matter anymore, considering that he and the others were simply walking in circles?

They walked on and on in silence, and Halo's head began to feel fuzzy, as if someone was whispering or buzzing quietly in the back of his mind. He tried to focus on that strange whispering sound, but he couldn't figure out where it was coming from. It almost sounded as if it was coming from the walls around them, but that didn't seem possible. Walls, in Halo's experience, didn't usually whisper or buzz. Halo tried his best not to think about it, because the creepy sound gave him the willies. Unfortunately, ignoring the sound didn't make it go away.

If anything, it seemed to be getting louder.

"This is hopeless," Cassy said, leaning under the cloak against the wall between two cells after who knows how long. She sounded a little calmer than before, but she was clearly still scared. Halo didn't really blame his sister, and he rather agreed with her assessment. It certainly did look hopeless.

"We just have to keep going," Albus replied quietly, his voice calm and positive. Halo had no idea how Albus wasn't losing his mind being trapped in Azkaban, but maybe it was a Potter thing. Maybe they were used to situations like this or something.

"Who… what's there!?" shouted the prisoner in the closest cell, a tall, bearded man with a wild look in his eye. "B-begone, spirit! Leave me… leave us in peace. We have nothing for you!" Halo and the others, still invisible under the cloak, backed away quickly, but the man kept on shouting, and soon all the prisoners around him were shouting for the evil spirit or ghost to go away and leave them alone. Not knowing what else to do, the children turned and ran, but it made little different. The shouting spread from cell to cell, and the twisted magic of Azkaban kept them running in circles so that they seemed to keep passing the same prisoners over and over again. People were shouting all around them, and the strange whispering noise kept getting louder so that it now sounded more like wind rushing past his ear. It was too much. Halo felt like he was going mad, and he just wanted all the noise to end. He was just about to rip the cloak off and curl into a ball until someone came and found him, when, as unexpectedly as always, his wand began vibrating in his pocket. Filled with desperate hope, Halo pulled the wand out and held out in front of him under the cloak. It pulled his arm forward, clearly indicating that they ought to go that way. Albus and Cassy could probably feel the wand vibrating, since they were all packed so closely together, but neither of them said anything. Instead, they all moved silently in the direction the wand was guiding them.

With Halo's twisted sycomore wand guiding the way, they made their way through the first floor of Azkaban until at last they came to the same staircase that Zoe had led Sam and them up earlier that day. Halo wondered if Sam was alright and whether she had been allowed to go back to Hogwarts or not. Hopefully they weren't keeping her for questioning. He had enough friends who were in trouble with the Ministry, and he really didn't want any more.

"This won't lead us out. Why did your wand lead us here?" Cassy asked quietly, snapping Halo back to reality. Halo hadn't really stopped to consider where the wand was leading them, he more or less had learned to just trust it. In this case, though, Cassy had a very good point. All the exits were on the first floor, and going up the stairs wasn't going to help them get out.

"I don't think we have much choice," Albus whispered. "Halo's wand is the only thing that can guide us. Without it, we'd still be going round and round in circles."

"Yeah, but how exactly does this help us?" Cassy asked, some of her frustration seeping into her words. "We're just as trapped as ever." Halo scowled, annoyed with his sister again, but he kept quiet. He knew better than to pick another fight with Cassy right now. Instead, unlike her, he tried to do something productive.

"Er, wand," Halo said quietly, feeling awkward that he was talking to his wand again. "We are trying to look for a way _out _of here. We don't want to climb any more stairs."

Halo's wand, obviously, said nothing, but it continued to hum in his hand, guiding him in the direction of the stairs.

"I guess it wants us to-"

"Shh!" Cassy hissed suddenly in his ear.

"Hey, you can't ma-" Halo started to whisper back, but Cassy clamped a hand over his mouth. Halo was just about to bite her hand to teach her a lesson when she whispered something in his ear that was so faint he could hardly hear it at all.

"Someone's coming."

Halo listened carefully and found that Cassy was right. Someone was walking towards the staircase they were standing beside. In fact, they were probably only a few steps around the corner.

"-sent her back to school. It would be bad publicity for us if the press wrote a story about a young girl caught in a prison lockdown," came the voice of Zoe the Auror.

"Very well," came the response from a wizard with a much deeper voice. "I trust your judgement that she has no involvement with whatever is happening."

"She's just a child, Tristan," Zoe said.

"Indeed," the man called Tristan replied neutrally as he and Zoe turned around the corner, headed straight for Halo and the others. The children backed against the wall quietly, giving the two Aurors as much room as they could. "Perhaps it is nothing but a false alarm after all. Still, the prisoners on the first floor concern me."

"Really, what happened?" Zoe asked as she and Tristan passed Halo, Albus and Cassy and headed up the stairs. "I was busy with the girl and I missed it."

"Well, some of the prisoners were convinced that they heard someone whisper in the hallways not long ago," Tristan said in a tone that indicated he didn't really believe the story. "They thought it was a ghost."

"No, the energy of this place keeps ghosts away," Zoe said, coming to stop of the fourth step and thinking hard. "There's too much raw death magic here to sustain semi-exanimate anomalies."

Halo had no idea what Zoe had just said, and judging from the blank look Tristan was giving her he wasn't the only one. Zoe didn't seem to notice, though, she was too preoccupied.

"If it wasn't a ghost that whispered, then it has to be something else. I wouldn't think anything of it, except that I thought I heard something outside earlier today too. Most likely…" Zoe stopped talking suddenly, her eyes widening. "Oh shit."

"Zoe? What is-"

"Call in the backup from the Ministry and guard every exit. Split all the remaining Aurors into pairs and have them search every floor using human locater charms."

"W-what?" Tristan was completely confused.

"I'm going to the sixth floor. I just need to double check something."

"Zoe, what in Merlin's name is going on?"

"It's not a false alarm," Zoe called over her shoulder, already running up the stairs. "We _do _have an intruder in Azkaban… and they're invisible."

Tristan stood there in stunned silence for maybe a second, then he turned and swiftly walked back the way he came, muttering an incantation under his breath. A few seconds after he turned the corner to go find his fellow wizards, the bell high above them that had gone silent began to ring again.

"They know!" Cassy whispered, staying very quiet even though both Zoe and Tristan were gone. "They know we're here!"

Neither Halo nor Albus responded. They had heard the conversation just as well as Cassy had. Halo's wand began to vibrate again, once again urging them up the stairs.

"Well the exits are blocked now, if they weren't before," Albus said, sounding resigned. "Might as well try and go up before they catch us here."

It wasn't very hopeful, but then none of them had much hope left of getting out of here without being caught. They climbed the stairs in silence. Second floor… third floor… fourth. Halo's wand kept guiding them up and up. Halo could have sworn it was vibrating more insistently in his hand. Fifth floor… sixth. Halo and the others saw no sign of Zoe, which he was grateful for. He rather liked the tough young Auror, but he didn't think it would end well for him and the others if she caught them. Seventh floor… eight floor… ninth. At last they reached the top the staircase, which ended in front of a big door made of black stone. The Halo felt his wand hum in his hand again, clearly wanting him to go past the door.

They all hesitated to touch the dark door until finally Albus reached out bravely and pulled the handle. It didn't budge. Slowly he pulled the cloak off, since there was no one around, to give himself room to push against the door. Again, it didn't move at all.

"Locked," Albus whispered unnecessarily.

"Well, great, now what?" Cassy asked, as if she expected someone to answer her. Halo could never remember a time when she had been more annoying. Sure, she was probably scared, but they were _all_ scared, so she had no excuse.

"We could try and open it with magic," Albus suggested hesitantly. "I think James said the spell was Allamoraor something."

"Alohomora," Cassy corrected quietly. "That's a good idea, but I'm pretty sure the most secure prison in the world would take precautions against a charm like that." For whatever reason, Halo noticed that she seemed to be much less irritated with Albus than she was with him. He wondered why, since he'd done nothing to upset her… everything was _her_ fault.

"I can open it," Halo said, glaring at his utterly insufferable sister.

"Oh, is that right?" Cassy shot back. "Well then by all means, Harry, show us how it's done."

Halo wasn't surprised that Cassy didn't believe in him, since it felt like she hadn't believed in him at all recently. That was fine, he would show her. Halo may not know how to unlock a door, but he didn't have to. After all, Atalanta had shown him that there were other ways of getting past a door besides unlocking it. He took a deep breath, trusting that his wand would help him cast the spell the way it had before. He also hoped he wasn't going to faint again.

"_Reducto Maxima_," Halo said, letting his wand guide his hand through the motion. He still wasn't quite sure what the proper hand motion was, but thankfully his wand knew what to do. Unlike the last time he'd cast the spell to stop the golem in Grayson Vance's laboratory, he tried not to use all of his energy at once. A beam of blue light erupted from the end of his wand and struck the door, sending a shower of blue sparks flying in all directions. The door cracked loudly, making enough noise to be heard from here to France, but the spell did its job. Halo's maximized charm had made a hole that was large enough for them to climb through.

"Wicked," Albus said in awe, reaching forward to examine the opening Halo had blown in the door.

"Halo, are you alright?" Cassy asked, rushing to her brother's side as he stumbled a little. "What were you thinking, casting that spell again!?"

"I'm f-fine," Halo said sleepily as he pushed his sister away, not quite sure if he was lying or not. He felt exhausted, but it wasn't as bad as the magic drain he'd felt the last time he'd cast that spell. He ought to be able to stay awake this time… probably.

"We should go, there's no way someone didn't hear that," Albus said, picking up the invisibility cloak and getting ready to cover them all with it again.

"Halo needs to rest for a second," Cassy said firmly, "He's completely drained."

"I said I'm alright," Halo growled, determined to do the opposite of whatever Cassy wanted him to do.

"You're not alright!" Cassy said angrily, grabbing his arm and forcing him to sit down. Halo struggled to get free, but his sister was bigger and stronger than he was, so he was stuck. He wasn't sure why she had to be so annoying and naggy all the time, but he was pretty sure no one in the world had a worse sister. Halo seriously wished that anyone other than Cassy had come on this trip with him and Albus.

"Take three slow, deep breaths," Cassy instructed. Halo glared at her viciously, but he did what she said. It was probably just a coincidence, but slowing his breathing did help clear his head a little. Only after he'd recovered did he realized how dizzy and tired he'd actually felt. The buzzing sound coming from the walls was as loud as ever, and for some reason that made him feel even sleepier. If he'd tried to move right away, he might have actually collapsed. Not that he'd ever admit that to his sister, of course.

"Guys," Albus said uneasily, still holding the cloak. "We really have to keep going."

"He should be able to move a little now," Cassy said, eying her brother critically. She sounded like she knew what she was talking about, but Halo knew it was all an act. Cassy was hardly an expert when it came to magic drain. She was just Cassy, his annoying big sister.

Halo most definitely didn't need Cassy's help to stand up, he just leaned heavily on her because it was convenient. Albus covered the three of them with the cloak again and together they stumbled through the hole that Halo had blasted in the door.

On the other side of the door was a narrow hallway that led to yet another staircase, this one a spiral staircase made up of the same black rock that everyone in Azkaban seemed to love so much. Halo's wand urgently pulled his tired arm in the direction of the stairs, clearly wanting them to climb. Halo groaned, not entirely sure that he could climb any more stairs right now. Despite his best efforts, he was just too exhausted to make his legs work right.

"I don't see how going any higher is going to help," Cassy complained as they reached the staircase. Once again, the boys decided not to answer.

"Halo, can you make it?" Albus asked, glancing at him in concern. Halo nodded, stood up as best he could, and lied through his teeth.

"Don't worry," he said, putting on a big smile; "I feel great. Up we go!"

Halo's false enthusiasm lasted maybe five steps, which was all that he could climb on his own. Cassy and Albus more or less had to carry him between them the rest of the way. When they were about halfway up the staircase, they could see sunlight coming from somewhere above them. They had been in the dark fortress for so long that Halo had almost forgotten that it was only the middle of the afternoon outside. Clearly this staircase had to lead up to the roof, and although Halo wasn't quite sure how that would help them much he would feel much better if he could see the sky again. Plus, he trusted that his wand knew what it was doing… and that it knew that he and the others couldn't fly.

They were most of the way up the staircase when Halo heard a shout from below them. Someone had found the door. Without saying a word, Halo and the others started climbing the stairs faster. Halo didn't have much strength left, but he was going to use whatever he had left to keep them all from being caught. It was the least he could do. As they hurried towards the roof, a booming voice echoed around them, amplified throughout the whole of Azkaban by magic.

"This is Zoe Libra, junior Auror. The door to the roof has been breached; all available Aurors converge on that location. I am moving to engage the intruder."

Halo really did not like the way Zoe said _engage_, or that she was the one who had found them. Halo didn't turn around, but he heard her sprint to the bottom of the staircase and began racing up the steps two at a time. Zoe may not be able to see them, but if they didn't reach the top of the stairs before she did she would crash right into them. They started to climb even faster.

Halo and the others had a big head start, but Zoe was climbing so much faster that they only reached the roof a few seconds before she did. They came out on the top of medieval-style castle tower, not all that different from the Astronomy Tower back at Hogwarts. Halo could barely see because of the bright glare of the sun, but he, Cassy and Albus raced to the far side of the tower to make it harder for Zoe to catch them. Other than that, they really didn't have any sort of plan. Halo's wand had gone still and silent, even though they were hardly safe. In fact, one might argue they were in a far worse situation now than they had been back on the first floor.

Zoe burst onto the top of the tower behind them, barely panting even though she had just run straight up a flight of stairs. Halo turned to look at her, but he couldn't really see her clearly. The sun was at her back, and it was far too bright to do more than just squint at her feet. Despite how bright the sun was; it was incredibly cold. Halo thought that Scotland was cold in December, but that was nothing compared to how cold it was in the middle of the North Sea. He did his best not to shiver too loudly.

"I know you're up here," Zoe said, confidently speaking to the air around her. "I've got you cornered. I don't know what you were thinking, trying to break into Azkaban, or who you were trying to free, but it ends here. _Accio Cloak_."

Halo tried to grab the invisibility cloak before it flew away, but much to his surprise the cloak didn't move at all.

"Not wearing a cloak, then," Zoe said, sounding totally unconcerned. "It doesn't matter; you're not going anywhere, my friend. As soon as by backup up gets here, we'll find you. All I have to do is guard the exit and-"

Zoe stopped speaking suddenly, and for a moment Halo didn't know why. Then he noticed that the world was growing darker, as if a cloud was passing in front of the sun. He blinked twice, by which time his eyes had adjusted enough to look around.

He wished he hadn't.

What had passed in front of the sun was not a cloud, at least not a normal one. It was a large black mass floating towards the island, like a storm cloud except darker, and Halo was terrified just looking at it. The cloud seemed to suck the very sunlight out of the air, so that within a matter of seconds the world around them turned from day to night. The horrible cloud was bad enough, but it was nothing compared to the things that came out of it, flying towards the fortress in terrifying numbers. Halo counted thirty or forty of them glided silently through the air; black robed figures with their faces covered with hoods. Cold and despair seemed to flow off of them in waves. Halo had used to love hearing stories about the big bad Dementors, but like so many other things the stories didn't really match with reality. Real Dementors were a thousand times worse.

As they flew closer, Halo truly began to understand what an idiot he was. How could he have thought that he could sneak into Azkaban and nothing bad would happen? He had led Albus and his sister into this horrible situation, and now they would probably spend the rest of their lives locked up in Azkaban for breaking wizard law. Not that it would matter much, of course, since Adam Lees or someone else was going to set the sky on fire using the huge mass of magical energy gathered at Hogwarts, and they were the only ones who knew about it. It was all his fault. In that moment, for whatever reason, he thought of Cleo and the promise he had made that everything would be fine. He really wished his last words to her hadn't been a total lie. Halo had utterly failed in everything.

"Oh my god," Zoe said to herself, taking a step backward and facing the Dementors, wand in hand. "The fortress, it must have been calling out to them when it sensed an intruder. Now they've come back home."

"Please," Cassy shouted suddenly, sobbing as she pulled off the cloak and sank to her knees. "It's all my fault. I'm the one who was supposed to keep them safe. I-I promised. Please don't let them be hurt because of me."

Zoe turned to stare at Cassy, Albus and Halo for the first time, unable to believe what she was seeing. "You… you're just kids?" she said in quiet disbelief. "But… _why_?"

"Please, I don't care what happens to me," Cassy pleaded. "Just protect them."

Zoe blinked once and seemed to overcome her shock. "Don't let the Dementors mess with your mind, kid. Don't worry, I won't let them get you or the boys. Whatever you three might have done doesn't really matter now, no one deserves what the Dementors have planned for us all. You three have to get off this roof. _Now_."

Cassy didn't need to be told twice. Zoe's words calmed her down and cleared her head a little. She stood up, grabbing Albus's cloak in one hand and hauling Halo to his feet with the other. Halo tried his best to stand on his own, but it was too much for him. His spell had drained him enough, and the arrival of the Dementors had taken what little strength he had left.

"It's alright, Halo," Cassy whispered in his ear as she held him up all on her own. "I've got you."

She tried to move back towards the staircase leading down before the Dementors came, but there was another problem. Albus seemed as completely incapable of moving as Halo was.

"Albus, we have to go," Cassy said, reaching down to grab his arm. When she touched him he looked up at her, tears in his eyes.

"I failed," he whispered quietly through the tears. "I couldn't do anything after all. I'm _worthless_."

"You're not," Cassy said soothingly, "That's just the Dementors talking. You were really brave in there. We wouldn't have made it this far without you."

Albus didn't really seem to hear her, but he let her pull him to his feet. The three of them finally began moving to the doorway, hugging the side of the towers as Zoe stood in the centre, launching streaks of silver light at the approaching Dementors which only slowed them down a little.

They made it about halfway to the door before the Dementors arrived. Zoe tried to hold them off, but there were too many of them for just one person. Most of the Dementors focused on her, but one landed on either side of the children, gliding towards them slowly. The one closest to Halo drew a long, rattling breath, and Halo felt part of himself being drawn towards the creature. His eyes fluttered, and he felt himself quickly losing consciousness.

"No, Halo, stay with me," Cassy pleaded, trying to keep him up. He wanted to stay with her, really he did, but he couldn't. The Dementors closed in, and Halo fell sideways.

What happened next Halo wasn't fully conscious for. There was a scream from somewhere, and then there was a loud sound and a huge rush of air. Then the world got a little warmer and brighter somehow. Halo wasn't sure what happened next, but he remembered something about falling. He wasn't sure how long he fell, but at some point he started floating, almost as if he was laying on a cloud. It was a warm, comfortable cloud, and it seemed familiar somehow. Smiling, Halo relaxed a little and fell fast asleep, dreaming he was soaring through the sky without a care in the world. As he dreamed, he gradually became aware that someone was with him, a warm presence that seemed familiar and very strange at the same time.

_Hello?_ Halo asked quietly in the dream._ Is anyone there?_

_Not a very good question, _replied the voice of a woman who sounded young, probably in her late twenties. _It is far too open-ended. There is always someone there._

_ W-what? _Halo asked sleepily, not really understanding. The strange voice was confusing him. _Who are you?_

_ A better question, _the voice replied in approval, and Halo was pretty sure he heard purring._ I am many things, and like you I will one day grow to be many more. Is that not the way of all thing? _

_ I don't understand, _Halo said, feeling slow and stupid in his tiredness. Conversations didn't usually go like this, did they?

_You will, one day, _the voice said calmly, as if that didn't really matter. _And on that day you will give me a new name, one that I have for you alone. Until then, you can call me by one of my many others names. I am Narasima._

_ W-what are you? _Halo asked sleepily, barely able to stay awake. He felt as though he might fall further asleep any minute, and the dream would change.

_ Another foolish question, _Narasima said in amusement. _One which I can only begin to answer. I am and will always be, amidst a myriad of other things, a guardian, a friend, and a Sphinx. Now rest, little one, and recover your strength. You will soon need it._


	49. Chapter 44

Chapter 44 Narasima

"It is time," someone said from somewhere close by. "Wake."

Halo yawned and sat up. His eyes were still closed, for he was too tired to really have any idea what was going on. He wondered sluggishly where that girl's voice was coming from, and what she was doing in his bedroom. No one was supposed to in his bedroom; well, no one but him and Cleo anyway. _Weird,_ thought Halo as he yawned again and rubbed his eyes. He'd just had the _maddest_ dream ever. He and the others had gone to Azkaban prison for… something, and they had been trapped there by purple-haired Dementors. It was all jumbled up in Halos mind, but he remembered one thing clearly—it had been the most terrifying dream he'd ever had.

"It was no dream," came the same female voice, sounding slightly amused. The voice seemed vaguely familiar to Halo, but he couldn't place it. Was it one of the older students, maybe someone he had only met once or twice? Yawning a third time, Halo opened his eyes and looked around. Several things struck him all at once. First, he saw that he was lying on a hill of green grass with a cloudy blue sky above him, not in the comfortable dormitory that he shared with Cleo. Second, the terror of Azkaban came rushing back to him in a flash, and he knew the voice hadn't been lying. That had been no dream. Third, he saw that the voice belonged not to a girl but rather to a creature sitting not far from him on the grassy hill who was stretched out calmly and casually licking her front… paw.

Halo had heard the words _sphinx _many times in his life, but up until that moment he had never had any clear picture in his mind of what a sphinx actually looked like. He knew from stories and pictures and muggle television shows that sphinxes were famous magical creatures with the body of a lion and the head of a person. Because of that, he'd assumed that a sphinx would, you know, be about the size of a regular lion. Turns out they were bigger… much bigger. She was easily the size of a small elephant, and much to Halo's surprise she had golden feathered wings that folded neatly on her back. If she spread those wings out as wide as they would go, Halo was pretty sure they'd be as wide as dragon wings. The strangest thing, though, was not the sphinx's size or her razor sharp lion-claws the size of his hand or even the fact that she had startlingly golden wings, rather it was the fact that her face was so… human. She looked only a few years older than Halo, maybe 15 or 16 and if it weren't for that fact that she was mostly a lion Halo would have said she was pretty cute… for a girl. Her large, almond-shaped eyes were golden, and her black hair was mostly cut short, with a thin braid running down the right side of her face.

The sphinx was scary but also innocent-looking at the same time, so Halo wasn't quite sure whether to be afraid or not. As he stared at her, she stopped licking her left paw and stretched her back, purring loudly and smiling a mysterious smile that showed a pair of very sharp fangs. As if in response, the wand in Halo's pocket vibrated for a few seconds, almost like it were purring back.

Suddenly, everything made a lot more sense to Halo.

"It's you!" Halo said excitedly, "You're the one whose tooth is… er… in my wand," Halo trailed off, wondering for a second if he ought to apologize for that or not. After all, he wouldn't be thrilled if someone had taken one of his teeth and stuck it in a wand. The sphinx didn't really seem to mind, though, she just smiled and nodded.

"You can call me Narasima," said the sphinx, rising to her feet and loping over to stand right in front of him. "I am pleased to at last meet you in person." She towered over him and had really big claws that could easily tear him to bits, but he wasn't afraid of her. Rather, it felt more like he was seeing an old friend or relative or someone who he hadn't seen in ages.

"Narasima?" Halo asked, surprised. "Then that was you who spoke in my dream?"

Narasima smiled again as if amused, but Halo hadn't been trying to say anything funny. "That was also no dream, but rather a conversation that took place when you were barely conscious. When the Dementors heeded the call of their island homeland and returned, they drained what was left of your strength and you collapsed. Unfortunately for you, you were leaning against the wall at the time, and when you lost consciousness you fell off the side of the tower. It is… _fortunate_ that I arrived when I did." She grinned widely, as if she had said a clever joke. Whatever it was, Halo missed it completely. He had was rather preoccupied by…

"I _fell_ off the side of Azkaban?" Halo whispered quietly. He didn't really remember that, but his memory at the end there was a bit foggy. He remembered the Dementors clearly-their dark robes that seemed to suck all the light out of the world… their rattling, hungry breath… the unbearable, inescapable cold—but everything else was jumbled and confused. He was pretty sure someone had screamed, which, if he had fallen of the side of the fortress, made a lot of sense.

"Indeed, but not to worry. I caught you before you fell very far," Narasima said, sounding quite proud of herself. "After that, I drove those vile aberrations back before they could harm anyone, collected your companions and brought you here." She gestured with her paw, and Halo saw that Cassy and Albus were laying not far away. He immediately ran over to check on them, but they both seemed to be unhurt but sound asleep.

"Thanks," Halo said, although that seemed an inadequate for someone who had literally saved his life. "Thanks so much. But, um, just one thing. Where are we, exactly, and why did you bring me here?"

Narasima smiled a big, mysterious smile and simply said, "Truly you have a knack for foolish questions. This was the next place you needed to be, so I brought you here. It is as simple as that."

"S-sure," Halo mumbled, not really sure what to make of that answer. He looked around and saw that the flat, grassy hilltop they were on was surrounded on almost every side by green-capped mountains. A valley full of little hills and lake spread out before him, smaller than the lake beside Hogwarts. It was beautiful and all, but it was totally unfamiliar and seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Halo couldn't really see how this was the next place they needed to be at all.

"Er, I didn't know you had wings," Halo said lamely before he could stop himself. Narasima laughed softly and Halo looked around for a hole that he could crawl into in shame and never come out of again. There didn't seem to be any of those around, though.

"Some of our kind are smaller and do not have wings. They are called the lesser sphinxes, and they are more widely known among your kind." Narasima explained patiently. "I am what is called a greater sphinx."

Halo nodded silently, knowing that if he opened his mouth he'd likely say something else daft. An awkward silence fell for a while, but Narasima didn't really seem to mind. She just started licking her paws again. Halo decided to see if he could wake up Albus and his sister, but even when he shook them several times they remained fast asleep.

"They will not wake yet," Narasima said calmly, watching him with her cat-like golden eyes. "My magic is keeping them asleep."

"Why?" Halo asked, suddenly suspicious. Narasima definitely _seemed_ familiar and trustworthy, but in the stories only a bad guys used their magic to make people sleep.

"They will need their rest," Narasima said simply as if it were obvious, "and I wanted a chance to talk with you… alone."

"Really?" Halo asked, surprised. "What for?"

He knew immediately that Narasima considered that another foolish question. She frowned, narrowing her golden eyes and began to pace back and forth.

"N-not that I don't want to talk to you, of course," Halo said hastily. Narasima ignored him, continuing to pace back and forth.

"There are things you should know," Narasima said mysteriously. Halo had no idea what she meant, but he nodded anyways. He didn't want Narasima to think he was stupid or anything. After all, he wasn't very likely to find another sphinx friend.

"The sphinxes are an ancient and powerful race, blessed with immense magical knowledge and prophetic wisdom," Narasima stated proudly, still pacing back and forth. Halo thought she sounded a little too proud of herself, but he kept that thought to himself. "Our lesser kinfolk are formidable in their own right, but we greater sphinxes are amongst the most powerful and long-lived magical creatures in the world. But, because of that, we are few in number. Many years ago we numbered in the thousands, but now we number barely more than a hundred."

"A hundred!" Halo exclaimed.

"Indeed," Narasima said, "and I am the youngest."

"The youngest… in the whole world?"

"I just said that," said Narasima impatiently. "I am only seventy-three years old; barely more than a child by our standards."

"O-only?" Halo echoed faintly.

"Seventy years ago my baby teeth were given to the wizards, as is customary for all baby sphinxes. Although our teeth are always made into wands to honour our ancient contract with your kind, wands with sphinx teeth as their core rarely ever choose a wizard partner. In fact, you are the first wizard to be chosen by a sphinx-cored wand in quite some time."

"Why me? Why did the wand choose me?" Halo wondered aloud. An awful lot of strange things seem to be happening to him, but he had no idea why. It wasn't like he was anyone special. He was just Harry Wiggins from South London. This kind of stuff was supposed to happen to more famous people, wasn't it?

"I do not know," Narasima admitted, and Halo could tell she hated saying it. Most likely, a sphinx not knowing the answer to a question was probably horribly embarrassing. Narasima scowled and continued on quickly, saying "After the wand created from my magical essence chose you, I could not just sit by and let you die, whatever the elders might say."

"Die!?" Halo said loudly. Narasima immediately looked guilty, as if she'd said more than she'd meant to. But then again, maybe it wasn't all that surprising. He had, after all, been attacked by Dementors and fallen off the side of Azkaban. For whatever reason though, it just hadn't hit him how close he'd come to dying until she mentioned it directly.

"I did not mean to say that," Narasima muttered. "Perhaps I should not have said anything at all. It is against our most ancient laws to reveal the future to other. We are not supposed to interfere, either. I will be in very serious trouble when I return to the others."

"I-I'm sorry," Halo stammered lamely. He wasn't actually sorry that she had saved his life of course, he just hated that she was in trouble because of him.

"Do not be," said Narasima. "It was my gift to you, which you will one day repay."

"I will?"

Narasima just smiled her mysterious smile and stood up, stretching her back and unfurling her golden wings.

"You're not just leaving… are you?" Halo asked desperately.

"You must find your own way back to your school," Narasima said, sounding quite unconcerned. "I have done all I can; any more would risk the wrath of the elders. We will meet again, Halo Wiggins."

"But-"

Before Halo could even think what he wanted to say after _but, _Narasima launched herself into the air and was gone. Halo sat down in the cool grass and watched her fly away until she was out of sight, trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened. He failed.

"Halo!" Cassy shouted suddenly as she woke up a few feet away from where Halo was sitting. She blinked in confusion several times before she saw him. His sister had a strange look on her face as she scrambled to her feet and advanced on him, and for a second Halo was afraid that she might yell at him. Instead she threw her arms around him, pulling him so tight that he couldn't breathe properly.

"Ouch, hey, Cassy... little room," Halo wheezed, speaking as loudly as he could with his rather limited air supply.

"I thought I'd lost you," Cassy whispered tearfully in his ear, still crushing him so tightly that there was a good chance she might just finish the Dementors' job for them. Still, even though he was being slowly crushed to death, Halo couldn't do much but stand there and pat her on the back. Cassy was crying, and even though he'd be angry with her for ages, Halo still wanted to find a way to cheer her up. That was just how he was.

"I'm fine, no harm done," Halo whispered, although he wasn't sure that was true. He knew he'd remember the sight of the Dementors flying towards him for the rest of his life.

"I'm such an idiot," wailed Cassy, apparently quite unwilling to let Halo make her feel any better. "I've been a horrible sister ever since your sorting."

"W-what?" Halo stammered, taken by surprise. He'd certainly been mad at her for the past few weeks, but before she'd tried to get Cleo expelled Halo would have hardly called her a _horrible sister_. "What are you talking about, Cass?"

Cassy finally released her brother and sat down on the grass a few feet away from him, hugging her knees tightly to her chest the way Cleo did when she was upset. Halo noticed that Albus had woken up as well, but he was keeping quiet. Albus was sitting nearby, staring out across the lake and the valley below so intently that the other two could pretend he wasn't hearing every word of their conversation, which of course he was.

"Do you remember when you were seven, and you fell off your new bike and banged your knees up so badly that they wouldn't stop bleeding?" Cassy asked quietly.

Halo nodded, wincing slightly. He remembered it quite clearly, even though it had been four whole years ago.

"You came running into the house, bleeding and crying for Mum, but she was at work. Dad was home and tried to calm you down, but instead you ran straight to me. I patched you up, sang you your favourite song, and put you to bed. By time Mum got back and made a potion to heal your knees, you were totally calm. You didn't even complain that her potion smelled like burned eggs."

Halo nodded slowly, remembering the day well. He glanced nervously at Albus, who was still pretending not to listen. Halo was grateful that Albus was the one who'd overheard that particularly story. If it had been Rose, Sam, Atalanta or, worst of all, James, he would have never heard the end of it.

"It's always been like that," Cassy continued quietly, avoiding her brother's gaze. "Whenever you were sad or mad or in trouble, you always came straight to me, trusting that I would make it better somehow. I guess I never really knew how much that trust meant to me until it was gone."

"But-" Halo trying to interrupt her, but Cassy was having it. She ignored his interruption and just kept right on talking.

"It all started this summer, I guess. There was a mix-up about your letter to Hogwarts, and when you finally did get to school you were sorted into Slytherin of all places. You were so miserable and upset, at least at first, and you came to me to try and make it better, just like I always had. This time, though, I couldn't do anything to make it better. I failed you, Halo." Cassy clenched her fist, glaring angrily at her own legs.

"it wasn't your fau-" Halo tried to say, but Cassy shook her head firmly. She clearly wasn't interested in having him make excuses for her. Even though he had been the one who pushed everyone away in those first few weeks, Cassy still blamed herself.

"You started to feel better after Rose Weasley and Atalanta Selwyn of all people talked some sense into you. You were more like your old self, and I was so relieved. You were making new friends and settling in a little in Slytherin. At first I was surprised, since it seemed like you had very little in common with the other members of that house, but then you were my little Halo. You'd always been able to get practically everyone to like you. It's just how you are. As the weeks went on, the only thing that really worried me was Clytemnestra Lestrange."

"Cleo isn't-" Halo began protesting immediately.

"Let me finish, Halo," Cassy said firmly, cutting him off again. "From the moment she arrived in the middle of sorting, everyone in school was talking about her. I didn't pay much attention to it, since most of the students knew less than nothing about her, but then suddenly you two were best friends. I was shocked, but then you introduced us and told me she was just misunderstood. I believed you at first, since I trusted you knew here better than I did, and for your sake I tried to be as nice to her as I could, but it didn't really lead to very much. She was too shy to spend time or even really speak to anyone except you, so I hardly got to know her at all. Then things got more serious. You had your vision of someone working some serious magic and setting the sky on fire, and we formed our group to try and stop it. It was then that..."

Cassy stopped speaking, swallowing as if it were painful. "It was then that I realized that you didn't really need me anymore; not the way you used to. If something was wrong, you would run to Rose, Albus, James or any of the other members of THOMAC for help. It seemed like you were more likely to go to Atalanta Selwyn for help instead of me. Remember when you and the others made plans to sneak into Hogsmede without asking me? You didn't even tell me about the plans you'd made until the last minute when I had no choice but to go along with it. Then I wasn't able to do a thing when the golem nearly killed you. Not that I'm not proud of what you did, your magic was incredible, Halo, but I just felt so… useless. At first I was scared and frustrated, but pretty soon I became angry."

Cassy's grey eyes flashed angrily for a second, but then she let out a long sigh and just looked sad. "It was a stupid way for me to feel, but I couldn't really help it. You had always been my baby brother, my little Halo, but just like that you became all grown up. You were basically leading our little group, and if what Professor Mason says is true there's a good chance your magic is already stronger than mine. You didn't seem to need me anymore."

"That's not-" Halo began, but once again, though, Cassy didn't seem to want to hear it. She continued on before he could say more than two words.

"For a while I didn't know what to do. I was irritable and angry with everyone, but I did my best to hide it from you. Heather probably figured out what was going on, she's a clever girl and she knows me better than almost anyone else, but everyone else just thought I was going through a phase or something. I just got more and more annoyed, and then Selwyn of all people brought up the idea that Clytemnestra might be the one to set the sky on fire. It made some sense given her power, her lack of control, and the fact that she was already at Hogwarts, which was where the attack would take place. A few of us talked about it, but then Rose said that you would never believe it. She said that you trusted Cleo completely, and that no matter what the evidence might be you would never be convinced that she was guilty. I was worried and upset, but I told the others to watch and wait. After all, we didn't have any proof yet."

Halo said nothing, he just fidgeted and tore up a few blades of grass without realizing what he was doing. Rose had already apologized for not trusting him, but it still hurt that they had gone behind his back and tried to get Cleo expelled because of powers she didn't even have.

"But then she lost control and burned you again, even though the day I met her she_ promised_ me that she would never hurt you again. I was furious that you'd been hurt again and that it seemed like I couldn't do anything to protect you anymore, and I kind of went a little crazy and tried to have her thrown in Azkaban. I blamed her for everything, and I was just so angry and frustrated. But now that I've been there, I just… I can't believe what I tried to do. No one should have to go to a place like that, especially not an eleven-year-old girl. I'm so sorry, Halo, sorry for everything. I didn't listen to you at all, I just acted as though I knew what was best for you without asking what you thought. So when you decided to sneak into Azkaban I made to go along. I said it was to make sure I kept you safe, but all I did was make everything worse. I was completely useless and nearly got both you and Albus killed! I've been angry and jealous and irritable, and it feels like we've been fighting forever. I'm... I'm the worst big sister ever! I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to speak to me ever again."

Cassy began crying again, and instinctively Halo got to his feet and walked over to her. She looked up at him with watery grey eyes, looking utterly miserable. Halo hated seeing anyone like that, especially when that someone was his sister. He threw his arms around her, and pulled her into a hug so tight that now she had trouble breathing. He thought about saying that even though he was upset that she hadn't believed him, the fact that he had almost died made that seem kind of unimportant now. He thought about saying that he was tired of fighting and wanted his big sister back. He thought about saying that no matter what, he would always rely on her more than anyone else. But in the end, he didn't say any of those things.

"I love you, Cass," was all Halo said, but somehow that said all those things and more.

The two Wiggins children hugged each other and cried for a while, but at more or less exactly the same time they seemed to remember that Albus was sitting nearby and both became self-conscious. They broke apart, quickly dried their eyes, and started acting like that had never happened. Albus got the message when they came over to join him he didn't make a single mention of the conversation that had just taken place. Instead, he and Cassy listened in wonder as Halo told them about how they'd escaped Azkaban and his conversation with Narasima.

"Wicked," Albus said quietly, shaking his head in amazement. "You actually _spoke_ to the sphinx that that provided the core of your wand. I don't think I'll ever meet the unicorn whose hair is in my wand."

"I wonder why she didn't take us back to Hogwarts, or at least stick around long enough to say hello to us," Cassy said, slightly offended. Halo grinned; he couldn't help it. Cassy might have just given him a tearful apology, but she was still Cassy. That was fine, he liked his sister just fine the way she was.

"It's some sort of secret sphinx thing," Halo said shrugging, "although I think she might have been playing it up a bit. She said this was where I was meant to be, or something like that. I dunno what she meant, since there's nothing here but grass."

Albus frowned, looking down again. He looked like he was thinking hard but, being Albus, he was likely to keep his thoughts to himself unless he was poked and prodded.

"Al?" Halo prodded, "What are you thinking?"

"It might be nothing, but this place looks familiar somehow. I feel like I've been here before."

"You sure?" Cassy asked, staring intently at the lake for the first time. "I don't recognize it at all. What about you Halo?"

Halo shook his head. It seemed completely unfamiliar to him, too. Albus kept staring at the lake with a frown on his face. "I think we should go down and have a look," Albus said at last, pointing down at the lake. "I feel like I've seen this lake before. Maybe we should take a closer look"

Halo and Cassy exchanged glances. Neither of them could see how going to the lake would help them get back to school. Still, they didn't have any better ideas so they set off down the hill, letting Albus lead the way. He walked slowly at first, but gradually picked up his pace as they got closer to the lake. There were low hills and jagged piles of rocks everywhere, so when they descended into the valley their view of the water was blocked every few dozed feet or so. Therefore, it took them completely by surprise when they walked out from behind a particularly large pile of rocks and saw that the lake was less than a hundred feet away. Also, clearly visible for the first time was a strange, brightly painted house that sat right on the shore of the lake. At least, that was what Halo thought at first. After he'd had a second to get over the brightness of the place and the fact that half the house was a tall tower that reminded Halo of a miniature version of the Hogwarts astronomy tower, Halo saw that the house actually had five long, spindly legs that were _in_ the lake. It was without a doubt the strangest and most wonderful house Halo had ever seen in his life. He was not the only one who thought so.

Albus let out a whoop and grinned widely, turning to the others. "So _that's_ why this place seemed so familiar! I've been here a few times during the summer. This is my Great Uncle Samuel Weasley's House. It would have recognized it sooner, but I think it's usually standing on the other side of the lake."

"I-is it?" Cassy asked, trying to act as though that were totally normal.

"Who's your Great Uncle Samuel?" Halo asked curiously.

"Hm?" Albus asked, distracted by his excitement. "One of my Weasley relation who lives up here in Scotland. I don't really know, actually. I'm pretty sure he's one of Mum's cousins. She's got so many. I know that means Sam isn't _really_ my Great Uncle, but we all call him Guncle Sam, and he seems to like it. This is perfect! Guncle Sam will get us back to Hogwarts safe, and there's almost no chance he'll tell Mum or, even worse, Grandma Weasley." Albus shuddered. Then he set off towards the house on the lake, cheerful as could be. "I'm telling you, Halo, that sphinx of yours really knows what she's doing."

"Narasima," Halo said quietly as he and Cassy followed, as if saying her name made her more real. "Her name is Narasima."


	50. Chapter 45

Chapter 45 The Beast in the Castle

The front door, which was an eye-watering shade of lime green, was a clear indication that Samuel Weasley's house was going to be quite unlike any place that Halo had ever been before. A narrow wooden bridge led from the edge of the lake to the front door of the house, which was maybe twenty feet from the shore. As soon as Albus, who was in front, set foot on the bridge, golden letters quickly began writing themselves on the door.

_Residence of S. Weasley  
__Warmest greetings (unless you are a salesman)  
__Mind the Garden_

Halo frowned at the sign before turning to look around, wondering about that last part meant. There was no garden as far as he could see. Actually, since the house was surrounded by water, Halo was pretty sure there wasn't any place for a garden to be.

"Come on, you two!" Albus called excitedly over his shoulder. "You're going to love this place, it's absolutely wicked. Oh, and don't worry about the plants. They just want to say hullo."

Before Halo or Cassy could ask what he meant, it became unnecessary to ask. Just as Albus crossed the midpoint of the bridge leading to the door of the house, the surface of the lake began to churn. More than a dozen leaf-covered vines of different colours rose out of the water underneath the bridge, slithering and snaking their way towards Albus. Halo cried out, but Albus just laughed and patted the nearest vine as if he were petting a dog. Dogs, though, weren't slimy, purple and covered with wet red leaves. Halo shuddered, and began looking around to see if there were some other, less-viney way to get to the house. There didn't seem to be one.

"Come on then," Albus said, waving them across impatiently. Halo shook his head violently while Cassy eyed the vines nervously and made no move to cross. "Oh, there's no reason to be afraid," Albus said, seeing their faces. "They're totally harmless."

Cassy and Halo exchanged glances, both knowing that there was nothing for it. They had to get back to Hogwarts as soon as they could. It was already getting dark, and someone was bound to realize they were missing soon. Cassy sighed and set out across the bridge. That, more than anything, gave Halo the courage to take a deep breath and follow slowly after her.

Albus had already reached the front door and knocked a few times, although no one had answered yet, by the time Halo reached the middle of the bridge. The vines, which had been slithering around Cassy and messing with her hair while she giggled, her nervousness gone, slowly turned and began towards Halo. He managed to resist the urge to scream and run off in the other direction, but only just. He wasn't a big fan of animals, or living things in general aside from other people. As far as Halo was concerned, moving plants were as bad as any owl or angry dog. He'd just… he'd had some bad experiences.

The first vine to reach Halo was a greenish-brown vine with bright yellow leaves. It danced through the air playfully, and Halo almost laughed. Maybe, he thought, he'd overreacted. Up close, the vine didn't seem scary at all. It reminded him a little of the giant squid at Hogwarts, which wasn't nearly as bad up close as you'd think. As Cassy reached Albus, who was still standing in front of the door, Halo reached out to pet the vine the way Albus had. Maybe it might help him get over his… well, he wouldn't use the word _fear, _exactly… but his nervousness around living things.

He'd thought wrong.

As soon as he touched the vine, it recoiled as if his touch burned. The other vines, which were still a few feet from him, began to twist and coil in agitation.

"Halo! What did you do?" Albus cried from the doorway, turning to stare at the plants nervously. Halo stared at his own hand numbly, trying to figure out why this was happening… again.

"N-nothing, honest," Halo yelled shrilly, "All I did was touch it!" As he spoke, Halo took a step backwards to avoid one of the other vines that slithered forward angrily. If he hadn't moved out of the way, the vine would have smacked him right in the face. It seemed to be trying to push him back across the bridge.

"Halo, just stay where you are," Cassy called out, pulling out her wand and starting back towards him. Half the vines turned to block her path, though while the others continued to advance menacingly towards Halo, who quickly stumbled back a few steps. Albus stared back in wide-eyed confusion while Cassy growled in frustration, unable to do anything. Even if it weren't forbidden to use magic outside of Hogwarts, she wasn't sure she knew a spell strong enough to clear the vines between her and her brother. Once again, all she could do was stand there and watch.

Albus and Cassy were so focused on Halo that they didn't even hear the door open behind them. They didn't notice anything until someone whistled loudly right in their ears, causing them both to jump. The vines, who had nearly pushed Halo back across the bridge, immediately froze at the sound of the whistle, their tips turning slowly to face the sound.

"Okay, okay, that's enough of that," came the muffled voice of a young boy with a heavy Scottish accent. Halo couldn't see who was speaking clearly because the vines were blocking his view, but whoever it was proceeded to talk to the vines as if they could somehow speak back. "Tristan, why are you attacking him?" The stranger demanded. The vines didn't answer, of course, even though the stranger waited for a response. "You should know better," he continued after a pause, "they're here with Albus. Now get out of here. Yes, I'm sure, now go."

None of the vines said anything of any kind, but the stranger had almost certainly been talking to them. Apparently they could understand, because after a brief hesitation all the vines slipped back below the lake. Halo was beyond confused, and when he caught sight of the person who had saved him his mouth dropped open. The whole world had gone mad; that was the only thing that made sense.

The stranger was a boy no older than Halo, although he was nearly a good two inches taller than him. He had bright red Weasley hair that was just visible under a muggle bicycle helmet. Halo wasn't sure why the boy was wearing a helmet, but it was hardly the only strange thing he was wearing. For some reason, he had a mask on that Halo was pretty sure was used by people who raised bees to keep themselves from getting stung. The boy was wearing a raincoat that covered his neck and torso, but he also had pillows duct-taped to his chest and back. He was wearing jeans, blue rain boots and heavy winter mittens that had red reindeer stitched on the hands. Tied to his right arm was a toilet lid that looked like it was some kind of shield, and in his left hand he held a broomstick that looked so old that Halo was pretty sure if anyone tried to fly on it the broom would snap right in two.

"Al! How are you?" The boy said excitedly, dropping his broom and clapping Albus on the back hard. He took of his bee mask and flashed them all a big grin. If he thought that it was strange that Albus had shown up suddenly at his house when he was supposed to be at school, he didn't say so.

"Er, Sammie, why exactly are you wearing…" Albus asked weakly rubbing his back, but Sammie Weasley was no longer interested him. His attention was wholly focused on Cassy, who was trying her hardest not to stare at the boy with her mouth open.

"Huh-hello, hi," the boy said nervously, fumbling over the words and blushing furiously. "I'm… my name's Samuel Weasley... but you can call me Sammie. It's what my friends call me. Who… what's your name?"

"Cassy," Halo's sister stammered, still trying to wrap her mind around what the boy was wearing. She seemed to be having the most trouble with the pillow duct-taped across this chest.

"Wait, _you're _Albus's great uncle?" Halo asked as he finally came to join them. Sammie blinked in confusion before bursting out laughing.

"What?" Sammie managed to say between fits of laughter. "No, of course not! That's my Pa, Samuel Weasley III. He's working right now, see. I'm only ten years old, and I'm definitely nobody's great uncle." Sammie finally managed to stop laughing. His voice grew almost serious, and he stood up straight, albeit in a clearly exaggerated manner. "The name's Samuel Joseph Weasley IV, at your service," he bowed low, like a noble lord or something, but as soon as he looked at Cassy he started blushing again and straightened very quickly, looking embarrassed.

"An honour to meet you, Lord Samuel," Cassy said, curtsying with a mischievous little smile. "I am the Lady Cassandra, and this is my manservant, Harold of Wiggins."

"Sammie, just call me Sammie," the boy muttered, sounding very embarrassed.

"And I'm just Halo," Halo muttered, suddenly in a bad mood. He did _not _like the effect that Cassy was having on the boy, and he liked even less how much she was enjoying herself. "And my big dumb sister is just Cassy."

Cassy gave an exaggerated gasp, fanning herself furiously with her hand as if she were some muggle noblewoman who had just been insulted. After a moment Albus and Cassy started to laugh, and Sammie broke into a wide grin. Halo glared around at the lot of them, still irritated.

After a moment, Sammie straighten up and gave Halo a serious look. "Why did my knights… the vines I mean… why did they attack you when you tried to cross the bridge? They've been trained to leave visitors alone. Did you do something to them?"

"No, nothing, I swear," Halo said, wondering why he'd called them knights. Sammie sure was strange, even for a Weasley. Then again, it must be lonely up here in the valley with no one around. Pretending that he was a lord with knights and a castle and everything wasn't the strangest thing a ten-year-old boy might do to pass the time. "It just happened when I touched one of them."

"That makes no sense," Sammie said with a frown. "They've never done that before."

Halo shrugged, not really wanting to talk about it. "It happens sometimes," he muttered quietly. "Living things just don't like me."

Cassy rolled her eyes, while Albus started in surprise and gave him a weird look. Halo scowled at his sister. She was _always_ like this whenever he brought it up.

"It's true!" Halo protested firmly. "Animals go out of their way to attack me all the time! Remember Hannah's dog a few years ago? She said that it had never attacked anyone before, but that didn't stop it from sinking its teeth into-"

"This again?" Cassy said with a sigh, "I thought you'd grown out of it, Halo. Yes, Hannah's dog bit you, grandma's cat doesn't like you much, and that _one _pigeon pooped on you that _one _time, but like I've said a million times, Halo, animals doNOT hate you."

"They do!" Halo said, folding his arms suddenly. "And it was more than one pigeon. You just weren't there for the other times."

"So that's why he's so afraid of owls?" Albus said quietly, "I had no idea."

"I'm not_ afraid_-"

"Wait, are you _sure_ animals hate you?" Albus asked sceptically. "Hagrid's dog never attacked you, and neither have any of the owls at school. Maybe-"

"It's only a matter of time," Halo said, his voice surprisingly shrill. "The owls haven't attacked yet because I don't look them in the eyes. They don't attack if you don't look them in the eye. Usually. And Hagrid's wolf-dog hasn't attacked me _yet_, but I _know_ he's just waiting to sink his teeth…" Halo trailed off into a mutter, shivering and shaking his head to clear it.

Albus exchanged glances with Cassy, and pretty sure both of them were on the edge of laughter again. That did not improve Halo's mood one bit. He tried to glare at both of them at the same time, but neither of them seemed to notice or care. Sammie didn't join in on the laughter. Instead, he had an unusually serious look on his face.

"Well, cousin Albus, if you're not afraid of owls then maybe you can get rid of the one flying around my living room." Sammie put the beekeeping mask back over his face and gestured at the doorway with his broom.

"_That's_ why you're dressed like that?" Albus asked, shaking his head in disbelief. "Because of an owl? I thought you were hunting the monsters under your bed again."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Al," Sammie muttered, glancing at Cassy for a second before turning away. Halo figured he was probably blushing again under his bee mask. "Ignore him, Cassy, he's talking nonsense. And it's not just an owl. That beast is a monster."

"It is?" squeaked Halo. "I-I'll just stay here then. You lot go on ahead."

"God, you're both hopeless," Cassy said, grabbing them both by the arm and pulling them into the house while Albus followed behind with a big smile on his face. Halo protested furiously, trying to shake off her grip. Sammie Weasley did not seem to mind as much.

As they made their way through the entryway and into the main hallway of the house, things did not get any more normal. The left side of the hall was covered with painted animals that were so bad that Halo wasn't even sure what half the animals were supposed to be. More than a few of them just looked like coloured blobs with ears and a tail.

"These are so embarrassing," muttered a red-faced Albus as they walked through the hall. "I thought your father would have painted these over ages ago."

"Don't be silly, Al," Sammie said with a smile, pointing to a grey blob with what looked like an extra leg coming out of its face "your elephant is a masterpiece."

"Wait, you painted that, Albus?" Cassy said, clearly trying hard not to laugh. "It's, er, very unique."

"There's are more than three years ago… I was really little," Albus said, staring straight down so he didn't have to look at any of them. Personally Halo didn't think that three years was all that long ago, but he kept quiet so that he didn't hurt his friend's feelings. "And anyways," Albus continued quietly, "it's not an elephant. It's supposed to be a rhinoceros."

"Oh, blimey, really?" Sammie said sounding surprised, "You _do_ know that their horns, um, point up and not down, right?"

"Of course I do… now," Albus said under his breath before quickly pointing to what looked like a horribly painted yellow flower with a face and a tail. "Still, it's not as bad as Rose's lion."

"That's supposed to be a lion?" Halo said in delight. "That's awful!" He couldn't wait to rub this in her face next time he saw her.

"Oh, wow, who made this?" Cassy asked quietly, stopping in front of amazingly accurate snake that someone had painted on the wall. Halo had never seen a child's drawing that was even half as good. Its eyes seemed to follow you as you walked by it. Halo shuddered and looked away very quickly.

"My sister painted that one." Albus said, staring at the painting with a smile.

"Wait, Lily painted that… three years ago?" Halo was stunned. She would have been only six at the time.

"She has a real gift," Albus said, still smiling proudly. Sammie nodded in agreement while Halo and Cassy exchanged looks of disbelief. Being artistic was one thing, but neither of them had ever heard of a six-year-old quite _that_ talented.

After staring at the painting for a few more seconds, they continued through Sammie's house, which was full of strange things everywhere you looked. All the rooms in Samuel Weasley's house were messy, unorganized, and full of enough cool things that Halo thought he might have been able to spend a whole day exploring each one. There was a room with three long, wooden tables, all of which were covered with more than a few stains and scorch marks from potions that pretty clearly hadn't come out quite right. It smelled… unique. There was another room, maybe the dining room, where dozens of old broomsticks lined the wall and a big table with wheels instead of legs. The table was covered with so many papers, sketches and books that there didn't seem to be anywhere room for eating, but even so a half-empty pizza box sat on top of a pile of books, looking like it might fall over any minute. Albus and Sammie both glanced at the stack topped with the pizza box, but neither moved it to a safer position so Halo figured it was nothing unusual. Halo glanced at his sister, who was staring at in the mess around her with disbelief and horror on her face. Halo almost turned to ask Sammie why his mother let the house get this messy before realizing that no one had mentioned his mother at all. There was pretty good chance, he realized, that Sammie's mother wasn't around, and Sammie might not want to talk about her. Suddenly, he was very glad he hadn't asked.

They came at last to the living room, which had jars, boxes, crates and barrels of all different kinds placed seemingly at random, most of which seemed to filled with brightly coloured powder. There was an empty fireplace on one wall, but Halo ignored it. His eyes were focused on a large brown owl that sat menacingly on the edge of one of the barrels filled with bright orange powder. Halo immediately took a step backwards as the owl hooted in his direction. Cassy and Albus both said afterwards that it was a perfectly ordinary owl's hoot, but to Halo it sounded angry and aggressive. He backed up quickly, colliding with Sammie who was entering the room behind him, and both boys fell over in a tangled heap.

"Phaethon!" Albus said loudly, sounding very confused. Halo was even more confused as he sat up, rubbing his head and wondering why Albus was shouting nonsense. Albus had crossed the room, and was actually _petting_ the feathery monster, grinning stupidly.

"This is Teddy's owl, Phaethon," he said over his shoulder as the other looked confused. "I have absolutely no idea what's he's doing here though…" Albus trailed off as the beast hooted again and lifted its sharp left claw, which had a letter tied to the end of it. It was addressed to Albus.

"H-how did that thing know you were going to be here?" Halo asked shrilly. "I mean, it got here before we did? How did it know?"

"Delivery owls are magical creatures," Cassy said, but she sounded a little surprised herself. "They always know where to go to deliver whatever they have to. I heard Mum say once that the best owls could deliver to where the person the letter was addressed to was _going_ to be, but I've never seen it before."

Albus reached over and took the letter, opened it and began to read. Cassy made her way over to read over his shoulder, but Halo and Sammie stayed where they were and exchanged wide-eyed, nervous looks. Halo knew the other boy had to be thinking the same thing he was. The owls had finally become so advanced that they might decide very soon that they didn't need their human masters anymore. When the owls rose up to take over the world, who would stop them? Halo shuddered, while Sammie shifted uneasily under his beekeeping mask and gripped his broom tightly.

Halo was so focused on his own dark thoughts that he didn't notice at first that Albus and Cassy were talking excitedly. He shook his head to clear it as Cassy raced towards him, her face anxious.

"Halo, you'd better read this," She said, handing him the letter. Halo reached out and took it, feeling surprised. It had only been a few weeks, but with everything that had happened it felt like they had given Grayson Vance's book to Ted forever ago. Had he really found something that could help them? Halo turned the letter over and started to read.

_Dear Albus, James, Rosie and Company, _

_I hope you are well, and doing your best to stay out of trouble. I may not have been totally convinced at first, but the more of this book I read the more certain I am that you are right. I have translated almost all of it, and even though there has been no specific mention of any way to set the sky on fire, there are so many troubling and disturbing rites and spells in this book that I am sure that anyone with a knowledge of this "blood magic" would be able to do some serious damage. I wish I could tell you more, that there are too many things that I still do not understand. I have done some of my own research here at the Sion Magic Academy, but so far I haven't been able to piece together how someone would use blood magic do it. Have you learned anything else about what this ritual might be or who might be behind it? If so, send a reply with Phaethon as soon as you can, so that I can tell you what I know. I do not mean to worry you, but I am afraid we might not have much time. I hope to hear from you soon. _

_Ted Lupin _

Halo gulped nervously, looking around at the others. He didn't need Ted to tell him time was running out, their conversation with Fisher had convinced him of that already. Cassy was frowning, deep in thought, while Albus was pacing back and forth nervously. Sammie was looking back and forth between the three of them, probably trying to figure out what was going on.

"We don't have time to send a letter and then wait for a response," Cassy sighed. "We already know that whoever is behind this is targeting Hogwarts, and that as soon as witches and wizards start dying it might already be too late. If only we had some way to talk to Ted now."

Sammie stirred at that, looking over with a thoughtful look on his face. It helped, somewhat, that he had taken his beekeeper mask and bicycle helmet off. "You need to talk to Teddy Lupin? I might be able to help with that."

The other three turned to stare at him. "How?" Cassy asked, careful not to get her hopes up. After all, the pillow duct-taped across the boy's chest didn't exactly inspire confidence.

"Floo powder of course," Sammie said, smiling. Halo grinned wide. That could work! Halo had seen people talk to each other using the Floo Network without actually travelling, but he had never done it himself. As far as he knew, all you had to do was put your head in the fire place, and you could talk to whoever you wanted. Halo and Albus looked at each other excitedly, but Cassy sighed and shook her head.

"It won't work," she said sadly, "Ted isn't in Britain. He's away at school in Switzerland. Professor Clearwater told us in class that the Floo Network only connects fireplaces in Britain. Everything else is too far away."

Halo sighed, disheartened, but to his surprise Sammie gave them a shy grin and said, "That's not _exactly_ true." When the others gave him nothing but blank stares, he cleared his throat and continued. "From what my pa said, each country has its own Floo Network because the Ministries of Magic, er, frown on travel between countries by the Floo Network because they would have no way to regulate who comes in or out of the country. Pa says the if Ministry wasn't busy coming up things to count and new rules for people to follow, they'd all be out of a job." Albus frowned and looked like he was about to interrupt, so Sammie hurried on. "Well anyways, the connections between Floo Networks all over the world do exist; Pa says Ministry representatives use them sometimes for official travel. The main problem, though, is that normal Floo Powder isn't strong enough to connect two fireplaces that far away. That's why my Pa and I have been experimenting with different types." Sammie spread his hands wide, indicating all the multi-coloured powders in jars, barrels and crates all around the room. After a moment he went to one of the smaller boxes filled with purple powder and picked it up. "You're not really supposed to use them without permission, but Pa doesn't really like asking the Ministry for permission. If you need to talk to Teddy, I can help you. I mixed this batch myself, although pa did all the enchanting."

They all stared at Sammie for so long that the boy started to look uncomfortable. At last, Cassy said in a small voice. "You… made a new kind of Floo powder? That's incredible."

"Oh, um, yes," Sammie said, blushing furiously and seeming totally unsure what to do with the compliment. "It was nothing, really. My pa showed me how it was done, and he did all the magic."

"Are you… sure you're ten years old?" Cassy asked faintly. Sammie blushed even more, is face nearly as flame red as his hair, and didn't say anything. Albus turned to Cassy and grinned. "Sammie won't admit, but he's a genius when it comes to making stuff, even without magic. He can fix any muggle machine up like it was new, and I bet after a year or two at Hogwarts he'll be showing the Professors how to do their jobs."

Sammie stammered that that wasn't true, but none of the others bought it. Halo was pretty sure Albus was right. A year ago Halo had been twiddling his thumbs in muggle school, waiting for break. He certainly would never have dreamed of trying to _invent _anything in his free time. He wasn't jealous or anything, not really, but it did make him feel a bit inadequate. Once again, it did not improve his mood.

"Well, let's give it a try," Halo said quickly trying not to think about how not jealous he was. After all, it was hardly Sammie's fault he was genius who could do practically anything. Telling himself firmly to snap out of it, Halo grabbed a small handful of powder out of the box Sammie was holding and walking over to the cold fireplace before any of the others moved at all. Before tossing the powder into the fireplace, though, he hesitated and looked over his shoulder.

''Um, what do I do exactly?" Halo asked quietly, looking over his shoulder questioningly. Sammie, naturally, was quick to explain exactly what he should do, even though Halo was a whole year older (at least).

"It's not too hard, really," Sammie said, still sounding embarrassed. "Just toss the powder into the fire and say the name of the place you're trying to reach. Since you are connecting to a foreign Floo Network, you have to say the country you want first. Teddy is studying somewhere in Europe, isn't he?"

"Yeah, Sion Magic Academy in Switzerland," Albus said with a nod.

"Anyways, after you throw the powder in the fireplace, you just sit on your knees and stick your head into the fire," Sammie continued as if sticking your head into fireplaces was totally normal.

"Er, is that safe?" Halo said nervously. Sammie blinked in surprise, as if he had never thought about that before. After a few seconds he shrugged and said, "Usually. The connection between far away Floo Networks isn't always as stable as it is in here in Britain, but that powder should be strong enough."

"Halo," Cassy said, flashing Halo her worried-big-sister look that she had used so often recently, "Maybe I should be the one-"

Halo didn't let her finish. He tossed the purple powder into the fireplace. Purple flames hissed as they suddenly flared up out of nowhere. They looked just as hot as normal fire, and Halo gulped nervously. He heard Cassy clear her throat behind him and knew that she was about to volunteer again, so stubbornly he sank to his knees in front of the fire.

"Switzerland!" Halo said loudly, and the purple flames rose up higher, which Halo took as an answer. Halo wondered vaguely where Switzerland was, somewhere near Germany he thought. That seemed quite a long way away. Was Sammie sure his powder was strong enough to reach that far? What if it wasn't?

Realizing he was just stalling, Halo sighed and, as loudly as he could, said, "Sion Magic Academy!" The purple danced and hissed, and, with one last deep breath, Halo stuck his head in the fire.


	51. Chapter 46

Chapter 46 The Final Piece

Sticking his head into the Floo Network was a strange and thoroughly unenjoyable experience. Halo's head felt like it was flying through the air, spinning and twisting in a way that made him feel sick almost immediately. Vaguely, he was aware of other fireplaces spinning past, but he was moving much too fast to make sense of anything he saw. Suddenly his head seemed to pass through a gate, and the glimpses of the other fireplaces stopped. His head spun in near-darkness for a time—two seconds or maybe more, it was hard to tell time in this place—when suddenly he slipped through another gate, and with a disorienting flash of light new fireplaces appeared around him. Almost as soon as the light returned, his head finally stopped spinning.

Halo blinked several times, trying to fight the urge to throw up. He seemed to be in a large room made of fire, empty except for a fiery door on the far wall. He looked around in confusion, even though there was nothing to see. This wasn't where he was supposed to be, was it? Where was Ted?

From out of nowhere came a woman's voice. She sounded nice, but Halo couldn't understand a single word she was saying. He thought the words might be French, but he wasn't sure. The voice trailed off and she began again, speaking a different language. Halo thought it might have been German, but he didn't understand that any better.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand," he finally managed to say.

The voice stopped and began again, this time speaking in nearly flawless English. "Welcome to Sion Academy. May I ask your name and which student you are trying to reach?"

"My name is Hal-, er, Harry Wiggins. Uh, I need to speak to Ted. Ted Lupin, I mean," Halo said, wincing dumb at how he sounded.

"Of course," The voice said smoothly. Halo wondered if it belonged to young woman sitting near a fireplace somewhere, or if the voice was completely magical. "I will inform Edward Lupin that he has a visitor. Please wait here for a moment."

"S-sure," Halo said, wondering where else he could possibly go, but the voice was already gone. He wondered how long he would have to wait, but it couldn't have been more than minute before the voice returned and spoke from somewhere over his shoulder.

"Edward Lupin will see you now," it said calmly, and the fiery door on the far side of the room flew open instantly. His head raced towards it so fast that Halo's queasiness came back, twice as strong as before. He was whizzing along a long, fiery hallway with thirty or so fireplaces on either side when suddenly his head turned and made straight for one of the last fireplaces on the left side of the hallway.

The spinning stopped again, and this time it was even harder to keep himself from throwing up. He shut his eyes tight, and took deep, slow breaths to try and keep it all down. If he never travelled by Floo Network ever again, Halo thought bleakly, he would be perfectly happy. This was all Sammie's fault, somehow. His _special_ Floo Powder was rubbish.

"Blimey, Harry, it really _is _you," Ted Lupin said as Halo opened his eyes at last and saw the older boy crouching in front of the fireplace, looking stunned. Halo noticed that his left eye seemed to be changing colour from brown to blue to red and back again. It did not help Halo's nausea. Not much of Teddy's room was visible behind him, but Halo could tell it was even larger and nicer than the rooms at Hogwarts, and Ted seemed to be alone. "It shouldn't even be possible for you to contact me like this. Where on Earth are you?"

Halo started to explain about Sammie and the Floo Powder, but only got through a sentence or two before stopping and shaking his head. Ted was frowning, probably wondering why they were wandering around the Scottish countryside instead of studying in school, so Halo instead started with Draco Malfoy's tip to go to Azkaban. It was a long story and Halo left nothing out—he still hated keeping secrets from people—except for the fact that Sam had tried to kill her father with Albus's wand. That was thing he thought was better kept quite from everyone.

Ted Lupin listened in silence, but when Halo started to say what Anton Fisher had told them about Blood Magic he stood up and began pacing back and forth, looking so lost in thought that he almost seemed not to be listening. His left eye began shifting colours again, and he was muttering something to himself under his breath. Halo trailed off, figuring that Ted was too lost in thought, but to his surprise the older boy spun around to face him and demanded, "That's not all, is it?" Halo shook his head quickly and continued the story, right up the Floo Powder that had taken him here. Ted paced back and forth the whole time, not saying another until Halo was done.

"Is Albus alright?" was the first thing Ted asked, stopping his pacing and turning to face Halo once again. "I know you said he wasn't hurt, but he's a sensitive boy, and what you three just went through would shake anyone." He sounded more like a concerned older brother than Halo had ever heard James sound.

Halo was about to assure Ted that Albus was fine, but after a moment's thought he wasn't sure that was true. The conversation with Fisher had unnerved Halo, and he wouldn't be surprised if it bothered Albus as well. Then there was the dementors, who Halo knew would be waiting for him in his nightmares the next time he closed his eyes. Halo shuddered, but after a moment's thought he said, "Albus will be all right." He wasn't just saying it either, he knew it was true. The memory of how he had taken the lead in Azkaban and helped them escape convinced him of that. "He might be a little sensitive, but he's braver and stronger than even he knows. He's a Gryffindor, after all."

Ted nodded and smiled, looking pleased. His smiled faded quickly, though, and he started pacing again. Abruptly he turned and hurried over to his messy desk, which was cluttered with so many books and papers that Halo would have thought it was impossible to find anything. He thought wrong, for it took Ted barely a second to pull a stack of papers out of the middle to a stacked pile that immediately collapsed, sending books scattering across the floor. Ted ignored them, stepping over the fallen book and making his way back to the fireplace. Halo recognized the papers Ted was holding; it was the original manuscript that they had found in Vance's laboratory under Hogsmede. Ted muttered to himself again as he flipped though the papers, left eye changing colours every time he turned a page. At last he gave a small nod of triumph as he found what he was looking for, setting the other pages down and rereading a certain passage in the old runic language over and over again. Halo shifted uncomfortably. It was really getting quit warm in that fire. Plus, his ear itched, and he had no way to scratch it since his hand was probably a thousand miles or more away. At last Ted let out a long nervous sigh, which Halo thought was not promising.

"Something has been bothering me about what Mr. Fisher said," Ted said, turning to face Halo at last, sounding totally calm. Even his brown eyes stayed brown. "According to him, the most likely cause of the disaster you saw in your dream is someone trained in Blood Magic using energy conversion to turn the vast magical energy around Hogwarts into a huge bomb powered by magical energy. I had not even thought of that possibility myself, since Professor Vance's research makes no mention of using Blood Magic in that way."

"It doesn't?" Halo said, surprised. Had Fisher been wrong after all?

"Oh, I have no doubt Mr. Fisher is correct," Ted continued, not sounding pleased. "From the Professor's notes, I am certain that Blood Magic _can_ be used in such a way, even though Professor Vance would never have considered doing such a thing himself. It's clear from his writings that he hated using magic to cause violence. His research was aimed at finding a way to preserve life… perhaps even a way to recreate it."

Halo shuddered at that, but Ted spoke on without stopping. "Anyways, what bothered me most about Fisher's story was the bit about the blood spells that would need to be done in preparation for the main spell. He is right about that, even if he did not understand what their purpose was. But I do understand the purpose; it is all in Professor Vance's notes. You see, Harry, magical energy does not sit around like pools of water. Instead it flows, more like a river than a lake. The paths along which the energy flows are called Ley lines. Even muggles know of Ley lines, though they cannot begin to understand half of what we know about them. The purpose of the rituals Mr. Fisher described is to alter the magic as it flows along the Ley lines, preparing the energy slowly so that it can be easily converted at a later time. Otherwise, the conversion ritual they are attempting would be so difficult it would be nearly impossible."

"A catalyst," Halo said quietly, and Ted gave him a surprised little nod, as he hadn't expected Halo to know the word. So Atalanta had been right after all about a magical shortcut being involved. Then again, that was hardly surprising, since Atalanta was Atalanta.

"And there as one other error in what Mr. Fisher told you. The blood spilled in the rituals to corrupt the Ley lines does not necessarily have to come from witches and wizards at all. Listen to this." Ted glanced down at the page of runes in his hand and began to read. "While it is true that the magic in the blood of witches and wizards is many times stronger than that of our muggle counterparts, my research has led me to believe that all humans, wizard and muggle alike, have some amount of spent magic in their blood. It is this untapped magic in the blood of all humans which I believe causes magical children to be born to non-magical parents. Perhaps we are not so different from our muggle neighbours as some would have us believe."

Halo let out a startled breath, and Ted sighed. "From what I can tell, that passage was removed from the final edition when the book was finally published. It only remains here in the original version. Apparently the wizards at the time did not want opinions like that being published, even if they were true."

Halo was about to complain about the unfairness of it all, when a sudden thought struck him. It was a disturbing thought, but the more he considered it the more he knew it to be true.

"Oh no," he whispered quietly as he started shaking. "No, no, no."

"Harry, what is it?" Ted asked, giving him a concerned look. Halo almost couldn't trust himself to speak, but after several breaths to steady himself he finally managed to say, "They've already started. For all I know, the preparations are already done."

"What?" Ted said alarmed. "What are you talking about? There have been no ritual killings in England. We would have heard if anyone was killing-" he cut off abruptly, his eyes widening. Halo could see that he understood too.

"The Red Tide," Ted breathed quietly, "The group of wizards posing as an anarchist muggle terrorist group to carry out attacks on muggles. The blasts must have been used to cover up the rituals used to corrupt the Ley lines. And there was another attack at this morning."

"What?" Halo said, started. "We didn't hear of an attack!" Someone at Azkaban would have mentioned it, wouldn't they?

"It was all over this Sunday's Swiss Soothsayer," Ted said, "The paper has been covering ever since the British Ministry discovered that wizards were involved."

Halo opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He closed it, shook his head once, and tried again. "D-did you say the_ Sunday _Swiss Soothsayer?"

"Yes, I read it this morning," Ted said, frowning. "Why?"

"It's S-Sunday afternoon?" Halo said, and Ted nodded, looking very confused. For some strange reason, that made Halo almost as nervous as the bit about the Ley lines already being corrupted. He had thought it had still been _Saturday_, the day they had left Hogwarts. Now he realized that Narasima must have made them sleep for almost an entire day. _Damn that Sphinx_, he thought angrily, and he could picture her just smirking at him with that twisted smile, golden eyes blinking lazily. Someone surely would have noticed that they hadn't come back yesterday. They were going to be in so much trouble when they got back to school, and Cleo must be so worried.

"We need to get back," Halo said, "We have to get back to school right away."

"Yes, you have to warn them," Ted said quickly, still not quite understanding why Halo was so upset. "You have to warn the Ministry too and tell them what you know. I would contact them myself, but I won't be able to get a hold of anyone in Britain before you do. I'll contact the Swiss Ministry and give them the information as well. Hopefully they can pass it along."

Halo nodded and turned to go. Another mystery was solved, but now they were nearly out of time. The time for secrecy was past, and Halo was sure he and the others had enough evidence that the adults couldn't just wave them away for being foolish children inventing wild stories to try and play the heroes. The grownups had to believe them; they just had to. The Red Tide, whoever they were, might be ready to carry out their plan at any time. Halo and the others had lost a whole day already thanks to Narasima. When he saw that giant sphinx girl again, he was going to pull her tail hard until she apologized.

Halo tried simply step back from the fire, forgetting for a moment that a thousand miles and two different Floo Networks were between his head and his toes. The world spun for several seconds as his head hurtled along past fireplaces once again, and when at last he fell backwards onto the carpet in Samuel Weasley's house everything still seemed to be spinning. He rolled over and promptly threw up.

"That usually happens, at least the first few times," Sammie announced from somewhere nearby, not sounding too upset that someone what thrown up in his father's living room. Cassy made a noise halfway between sympathy and disgust and carefully helped her brother to his feet.

"You could have mentioned that," Halo muttered angrily, but Sammie just laughed as if Halo had made some kind of joke and walked away, muttering something about finding a Kwiq-Kleen mop. Halo was too busy to notice, though, he immediately began telling the other what Ted had told him.

"Sunday," groaned Albus when Halo was done speaking. "Nearly Sunday night, now. We've been gone nearly two days!"

Cassy gave an exasperated sigh and looked at him, saying, "Really? _That's_ what you took away from that. Not group of killers ready to put their world-ending plan into motion, but the fact that it's bloody Sunday?"

"Even if we save the world, I won't be around to live in it," Albus said mournfully. "My Mum will skin me alive when she hears about this."

Cassy rubbed her eyes with her right hand, and Halo thought his sister was furious until she took her hand away and he saw the twinkle in her eye. "Trust me, Al," she said with a mischievous little smile, "from one troublemaker to another. Your Mum will just be happy just to see you. She might yell a little, but in the end she'll be glad as long as you make it back safe."

Albus looked doubtful, but the fact that Cassy had called him Al seemed to cheer him up immensely. "I'm not a troublemaker," he muttered, but in a way that sounded like even he didn't believe it. Halo was sure what the others thought, but he was pretty sure breaking into Azkaban qualified them as troublemakers for life.

Sammie came back with the mop, and a few seconds later he had cleaned up Halo's… well the room was clean again. Cassy began pacing back and forth anxiously, much like Ted had. Halo wondered why no one could ever sit still while the worried. That was certainly what he liked to do.

"Sammie," she said abruptly, turning to the boy, who smiled as excitedly a puppy whose owner was going to play with it. If the boy'd had a tail, Halo was sure it would have been wagging. "We need to get to Hogwarts. Can any of your powder get us there?"

Sammie's smile faded, and he shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Pa says the fireplaces in Hogwarts are protected by powerful enchantments. No one is supposed to connect to the school without the Headmistress's permission. It's illegal."

"But you can, can't you?" Cassy said, smiling innocently. Sammie nodded slowly, and Halo shook his head in disapproval. She shouldn't be toying with the boy like that. Halo could always get people to do what he wanted too, of course, but he never… he didn't ever smile at people like_ that_. It was dishonest, _girl _thing to do.

Sammie went over to a jar on the far side of the room and pulled off the lid. It was full of fine powder that was so black it seemed to make the whole room a little darker. "I didn't make this," he told them quietly, "Pa doesn't even know I know about it. I heard him talking about it one day though, saying it was the best powder he ever made. He said it could break through any enchantment. With this, people might not have to live behind many rules and keep so many secrets, he said. I think," he paused awkwardly and gave them a nervous look, "I think he'd be in a lot of trouble if the Ministry ever learned he made this."

Halo, Cassy and Albus quickly promised not to mention it. Halo didn't really understand himself, but he thought Samuel Weasley might have been on the right track, at least a little. He didn't much like secrets himself, and had often thought the word would be better off with less of them. He wasn't sure what that had to do with Floo powder that could break enchantments, though. That seemed like it could be a lot of trouble in the wrong hands.

As Sammie got ready to toss the powder in the fire, Cassy insisted on taking the lead. Halo didn't even try to argue, knowing it was hopeless. Instead he turned to Albus and said, "Ted asked if you were alright. I think he was worried about you."

Albus looked embarrassed, but also a little pleased. "What did you tell him?" He asked quietly.

"I said you're a true Gryffindor, brave and strong," Halo said with a smile. He expected Albus to beam at the compliment, but instead the other boy looked troubled.

"But I'm not," he muttered quietly, so quietly Halo wasn't sure he heard right.

"What do you mean?" Halo asked. Albus said nothing for a moment, and Halo thought he might not answer at all. At last he turned to Halo, his green eyes almost the exact shade as the Slytherin Serpent. "Nothing," he said quietly, "just something the Sorting hat said. I think it almost put me somewhere else, but something changed its mind."

Halo frowned at that, but he didn't get the chance to respond because Cassy tossed some powder that Sammie gave her into the fireplace. Instead of purple flames, pure black flames that seemed to suck the light right out of the air erupted in the fireplace. Cassy gave a shudder, but shouted, "Ravenclaw Common Room, Hogwarts!" and stepped through without even hesitating.

"Damn her," Halo muttered angrily, "What did she go to the Ravenclaw Common Room for? We should stick together. If we all just appear in the fire place people are going to talk and it will be all over school in an hour!"

Albus nodded, looking like he very much agreed. Before Halo could decide what to do, Albus took some powder himself and said, "Ravenclaw Common Room, Hogwarts," and stepped through before Halo could protest. Halo wasn't sure that was a better idea, having a Gryffindor appear in the Ravenclaw Common Room, but there was nothing for it now. Sighing, he walked to the fireplace and took some powder from Sammie.

"Good luck, Halo," Sammie said quietly, "Sorry for, whatever I did to upset you."

Halo immediately felt guilty, and he patted the boy on the shoulder. It was a little awkward, since Sammie was taller than him. "I'm the one who should be sorry, Sammie," he said. "Thank you for all your help. I'll see you at Hogwarts next year."

"I'm counting on you lot to make sure there is a next year," Sammie said quietly, trying to put on a brave smile. Halo stared at the boy in surprise. He'd thought Sammie didn't know what they were up to. Maybe the boy really _was_ a genius.

"If only I had a wand, I'd come along too to help," Sammie continued, although he sounded scared. "Without one I'd just get in the way."

"Don't worry," Halo said, putting on a brave smile that he thought was at least half convincing as he tossed the black powder into the fireplace. "We have everything under control."

With that, the shouted the same destination as the others and stepped into the black flames.


	52. Chapter 46 and a half

Chapter 46.5 Brave

_If you're going to make me do this, you could at least hold still!_ Lily snarled in Parselmouth. Shanjavi blinked slowly, his long snakey face giving her what might have been a guilty look, and curled into a snakey ball again as if he hadn't just raised his head in a sudden jerk that had startled her so badly her hand had slipped and ruined everything.

Lily wanted very much to hit that snake, but she was a good girl, and she knew good girls weren't supposed to hit anyone, not even the most very annoying of snakes. It just wasn't fair.

She let out a long breath and tried to stop scowling. It didn't work, but Mum always liked to say it was the thought that counts. Actually, it might not have been Mum who liked to say it. Lily couldn't remember. Well, in any case, _someone_ liked to say it was the thought that counts, and just then Lily very much agreed with them… whoever they were. She sat scowling and cursing every snake that had ever been born under her breath, although loud enough to make sure Shanjavi would hear, and stared down at the sketch of a snake that she'd been drawing before her hand slipped. It was ruined. Totally ruined.

She was sitting in her chair by her little desk, her large blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a cape. She had another blanket covering her hair like a hood. In fact, she had wrapped and bundled herself up so tightly with blankets that she thought she must have looked like the world's sleepiest mummy. That probably would have terrified Al, who had this silly fear of mummies, but thinking of her brother just made her sad. She hadn't seen him in ages; him or James. They had to be okay, they just had to be.

But for how much longer?

It was already December 3rd, meaning there was less than a month left before the world might end. And what was Lily doing about it? _Drawing_, she said to herself angrily;_ Staying awake all night and drawing because I'm too afraid to close my eyes. _Without realizing what she was doing, she snapped her pencil between her fingers. Lily sighed and tossed it into the rubbish bin beside her desk. It was full of snapped pencils; ten or maybe twenty in all. She was going to have to ask Mum to get her more.

Mum was around all the time now, although that was not nearly as great as she would have thought it would be. Plus, it was all Lily's fault. Mum had been angrier than Lily'd ever seen her when the reporters from the _Daily Prophet_ had shown up outside the house, trying to ask Lily all these questions about what had happened in London. _Those bodies_, thought Lily before she could stop herself, and she clutched the blanket around her. She had run away without saying anything, but the people hadn't gone away for days. Mum had been absolutely furious, but when she'd stormed off to her office in London, her boss at the _Prophet_ had refused to leave Lily alone. Apparently, she had said it was too big a story to let go of for anyone, even Mum. So Mum had quit, but not before telling everyone there _exactly _how she felt. Lily had overheard Uncle Ron talking with Daddy about it, and she thought her uncle sounded half-proud, half-scared about what Mum had said. Anyways, now that Mum wasn't working, she had plenty of time to hover over Lily and worry. But Lily didn't want anyone worrying about her. She was fine, even if she barely ate and every time she closed her eyes she saw the basement in the cottage and the twisted dead bodies. _There had been so much blood. _

_ Lily? _Shanjavi asked quietly, uncoiling and raising his long, snakey body so he could look into her eyes. _Are you thinking about it again?_

_ No, _Lily lied, much too quickly. She had to lie like that a lot. Mum wasn't the only who was always hovering. Daddy was home more than she could ever remember, and he was always watching her when he thought she wouldn't notice. Well she _did_ notice, and it annoyed her. Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione were around a lot too, and Uncle Bill, Uncle George, and even Uncle Percy had come over a few times. She'd hid in her room as much as possible during those visits so she didn't have to watch them worry about her. She just knew they were all having whispered conversations about her whenever they got together, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. All she could do was hide and pretend not to notice.

It wasn't all bad, though, Lily had to admit. Uncle Charlie had sent her a necklace made of dragon eggshell which shined as bright as any pretty stone, and was even rarer. She wore it all the time, even right now over her pyjamas. And Auntie Luna had baked her a pineapple, cranberry and almond cake which had been better than it sounded. It was one of the few things she had actually eaten recently. And there was also Shanjavi.

Shanjavi had not left her side since Uncle Ron and Mum had found her in the cottage in London. Mum had immediately apparated home with her, while her uncle had stayed behind to call the Ministry. It was the first time Lily had ever apparated, but she'd barely noticed. She also hadn't noticed until later that Shanjavi had crawled into the sleeve of her coat and wrapped himself around her arm. She didn't mind, of course—she was glad he hadn't left her—she just hadn't really expected him to stay. But he had. Sometimes he had to slither out of sight under the bed or up her sleeve when someone knocked on her door and quietly asked if she was feeling alright, but there was nothing to be done about that. She was definitely _not_ going to tell her parents that she now had a snake living in her room with her. They were worried enough about her already, and she didn't want them thinking she had gone mad. She had never told anyone except James and Evie that she could talk to snakes, although she supposed Halo probably knew. She had only met the boy with pretty brown eyes once, but somehow just by touching him she had managed to share the first dream of the sky on fire with him entirely. She still wasn't sure how that had happened. She had never expected just touching a boy could do something like that. Suddenly she realized she was blushing and angrily stopped thinking about Halo and his brown eyes. She was being stupid again.

_ I'm sorry, Shanjavi, _she said at last, rubbing her eyes._ I know you were just trying to help, but I don't much feel like drawing anymore_. She glanced down at the papers spread across her little table. They were all drawings of snakes. Shanjavi kept asking her to do more. He seemed to like modelling for them, and drawing did help take her mind off things a little, but sometimes he had a hard time keeping still. Who had ever heard of a snake that had trouble keeping still? Well anyways, some of the drawings weren't bad, she supposed, but none of them were anywhere near her best. She had always been proud of how well she could draw, but right now it just irriatated her. Why couldn't she be good at something useful, like magic? _Drawing_ wouldn't get rid of those Red Tide people.

She felt so helpless, and that just made everything worse.

Lily had never really questioned whether or not she was brave. She was Lily Potter, daughter of Harry and Ginny Potter, two famous heroes from old wizard families who'd been sorted in Gryffindor for hundreds of years. After that, how could she not be brave? But apparently she wasn't. Apparently all she was good for was wrapping herself in blankets and hiding in her room, too afraid to even close her eyes. She half the time she wanted to shout at herself, half the time to scream in frustration, but she knew neither would do anything except worry her parents. She couldn't scream herself out of her fear. All she could do was sit there, snapping pencils and avoiding sleep. The sun hadn't quite risen yet, but she knew it was Sunday morning already, and she hadn't slept a wink last night.

_How much longer can I keep awake?_ Lily wondered, half-yawning before she realized what she was doing and stopped herself. She tried to forget how tired she was, but unfortunately Shanjavi had noticed the yawn.

_You're exhausted, _Shanjavi hissed, scolding like Mum. _You need to sleep sometime._

_And you need to shut up, _Lily snapped, although she regretted it right away. She got mean when she was tired, and her friend was only trying to help. Shanjavi didn't snap back, thought, he just nudged her hand gently with his scaly head. Maybe he was used to her temper by now. That, if anything, made her feel even worse.

_Maybe you won't dream about it this time, _he said quietly, though Lily could tell even he didn't believe it. Boys were as easy to read as a book. Easier, in fact, since Lily was usually too impatient to read those long books that her cousin Hugo liked to read. She didn't know how he could spend all that time reading them. There weren't even any pictures!

Lily sighed and nodded, letting Shanjavi win. When her tired brain starting thinking of Hugo and his books, it was time to give up and go to bed. She slowly got to her feet and took the three steps it took to fling herself onto her bed. Shanjavi slithered after her, climbing up the leg of her bed before moving to coil up on her shoulder. He knew that she slept better with him nearby, she had told him so (only once though, she didn't want him to get any more full of himself). Most girls her age, she thought sleepily, would have run away screaming if they found a snake in their bed. Lily had a hard time falling sleep without one.

_Goodnight, Lily, _Shanjavi muttered sleepily, and she realized that she wasn't the only one who had trouble staying up all night. Smiling fondly at her snake (he _was_ hers, although he wasn't a pet or anything silly like that) she drifted off to sleep more easily than she had in days.

_There was grass between her toes, and it tickled slightly. She knew this place; she had dreamed of it before. She was sitting on a grassy little island overlooking the ocean. It wasn't much of an island—just one hilltop and a few flowers—but she loved it just the same. It was hers; her very own, special place. She wondered for a moment if it was a real place before deciding that it didn't really matter. Her dreams were much more real for her than they were for other people, and that made this place real enough, at least for her._

_There was a quiet hiss behind her, but she had expected it. Oxalion had been the first person… snake rather… to show her this place, and he was always there waiting for her. She closed her eyes, refusing to acknowledge the huge snakey ghost for as long as she could. He had never stepped into her dreams to keep her away from the nightmares of the basement of the cottage in London, and she wasn't going to forgive him for it. Not ever._

_Plus, the sunshine and the breeze was just so nice._

"_Hatchling," Oxalion said bossily as he came closer. Lily stubbornly pretended not to hear him, keeping her eyes shut tight. The NERVE of that snake! He'd done nothing to stop her dreams, but now that he needed something from her he acted as if…_

"_Lily Potter!" Oxalion said, his voice even more insistent. Lily was so surprised that she opened her eyes before she could stop herself. He had almost never called her by her name before. It was always 'hatchling' or 'dreamwalker' with her. Lily scowled at him angrily, but she couldn't very well close her eyes again and pretend not to hear him again. It was too late for that._

"_What do YOU want?" Lily decided to say, as rudely as a good girl like her could manage. She was proud of the acid in her voice. It came close to showing just how angry she really was._

"_It is time," Oxalion said, taking no notice of her tone. Something about the way he said those three words made her sit up straight and forget her irriatation._

"_Time? Time for what?" _

"_You must go, Lily Potter. You must get to Hogwarts by tonight. The world needs you."_

"_Hogwarts!? T-tonight?" Lily licked her lips, trying to think. It was not easy. Her mind was filled with her own terrified screaming, and it took nearly all her will to keep the screams inside. She took a lot of slow deep breaths and sat on her hands to keep them from shaking. She didn't want Oxalion to know how afraid she was. She was supposed to be brave. _

"_I thought you s-said that we had until the end of the year," Lily said slowly, her voice squeaking only once. "You said so when we first met. I remember it clearly."_

_Oxalion's large, ghostly head bobbed back and forth, just like a boy who'd done something bad shifted from foot to foot guiltily. Before Shanjavi had come to live with her, she wouldn't have recognized what he was doing, but she now she knew all about the annoying habits of boy snakes. Lily narrowed her eyes, trying to imitate the way Mum's glared at Lily's brothers to get them to admit when they'd done something bad. The glare didn't seem to work the same way on snakes as it did on James and Al. Or, maybe she was just doing it wrong._

"_I said that when the sun rose on the new year, it would be too late. That is not untrue, simply not the whole truth," Oxalion said, sounding perfectly calm and not even a little bit afraid of her glare. Not even a little! "Now it turns out that you have less time than you would have if things had happened differently. Something has made events move faster than I had predicted. Your actions, and the actions of those you shared the vision with, have stripped away hundreds of possible futures, some good and some bad. That has cleared my vision of the future somewhat, and I can make out some of what needs to be done. I know that you must get to Hogwarts tonight. Everything depends on it." _

_Lily, who was still sitting on her hands so they couldn't shake, took a long time to think over everything Oxalion had said before answering. Her annoyance was gone, and she was just terrified again. Was Oxalion saying that it was her fault that they only had until tonight instead of until the end of the year? Had she made a mistake? She hadn't tried to. She had tried to be so careful so no one would get hurt. Suddenly she had tears in her eyes, but she stood up quickly to free her hands and brushed the tears away before they could fall. I am NOT going to start crying in front of Oxalion, she told herself firmly. I am a Potter. I have to be brave._

_ "Even if I wanted to go, how am I supposed to get to Hogwarts?" Lily asked as she rubbed hard at her eyes to make sure no more tears came. "Last time didn't go so well, and I couldn't go that way even if I wanted to. Evey isn't here to tell me how to get past the spells guarding the fireplace. So how do I get there? _

_For whatever reason, Lily had expected the snake give some sort of useful answer. But she had known Oxalion for a while now, and she should have known he would be the opposite of helpful. After all, when had he ever made things easier for her?_

"_I do not know how you might get to the school, hatchling," Oxalion said, calmly ignoring as she stamped her foot in frustration. "I have been dead for many hundreds of years, and I know little of the world today. I only know what must be done." _

_Helpful as ever, Lily thought sourly. Typical boy._

"_Are you SURE I have to go to Hogwarts?" Lily asked. It wasn't that she didn't totally trust the snake, she just knew he didn't always say everything. Okay, fine… she didn't totally trust him._

_Oxalion was quiet for such a long time that Lily started to fidget. She found herself wondering if maybe he hadn't heard her. Snakes didn't have ears after all, so it had to be hard for them to hear sometimes. She wondered what it would be like not to have ears. I'd be so ugly, Lily thought to herself with a shudder. What was a good word for being super ugly? She couldn't think of one. She would have to ask Daddy when she woke up, or maybe Shanjavi. He knew a whole lot of big words… for a snake._

_Lily was so busy thinking important thoughts about ears that when Oxalion finally spoke she was caught by surprise and jumped a little. _

"_It is the only way left now," he said. There was something weird about the way he said it, but Lily could not have said what it was. "You must go, or someone you love will die. Perhaps everyone, for that future still exists. Your going does not guarantee everyone will survive, but without you someone dear to you will surely die."_

_Lily shivered once, but then she pushed her fear as far away as she could. It wasn't easy to push away the fear that had held her since the trip to London, but she managed it at last. She had to. No one was going to die, not if she could stop it. No one. _

"_I'll get there somehow," Lily growled, her voice full of determination. It didn't even squeak once._

"_I know you will, Lily Potter," Oxalion said in that same weird voice. "And know that whatever you do, you will not be alone." Lily had no idea what the last part meant, or why he still sounded so strange. She thought he sounded sad for a second, before realizing that he was probably just worried. The whole world might end if she messed up today, so it made sense for him to be worried. Just thinking about it made her hands start shaking again, even though she was trying her very best not to let them. She couldn't even sit on them this time, since she was standing up._

_She expected to wake up right then and there. After all, that was what always happened when Oxalion had finished telling her whatever he wanted to say, but nothing happened. She just stood on the little island at the edge of the ocean, trying to keep her hands from shaking. Lily blew her red hair out of her face, and turned to glare at Oxalion, who was just lying there in the grass, staring at her silently._

"_Why am I still here?" She demanded, sounding ruder than a good girl ever should. She knew it was bad, but she couldn't help herself. Pretending to be brave in front of other people was just so hard. She wanted to have some time alone so she could scream her head off for a while before trying to find a way to get to Hogwarts. If there even was a way._

"_You are exhausted," Oxalion said gently. It annoyed her how everyone kept saying that. It's not like people actually HAD to sleep every day. "You need to rest before you go, or you will have no hope of reaching the castle."_

_Lily put her hands on her hips and was about to tell Oxalion that she felt as good as ever, thank you very much, and that she had no time to waste, but for some reason she felt her eyes slowly closing. In the back of her mind, she felt dimly surprised—she had never fallen asleep while asleep before—but soon everything faded to black._

Lily jerked awake so suddenly that Shanjavi was thrown off her shoulder, hissing grumpily. The light was shining brightly in her windows, which threw her into a panic. She flailed out of bed, falling awkwardly and banging her knees on the ground, but she didn't even wince as she scrambled to her feet and threw open the door to her room. How long had she slept? It couldn't have been more than a few hours, could it? Oxalion wouldn't have made her sleep for a whole day, would he? But why had he made her sleep at all? _He_ was the one who said that she had to get to Hogwarts today, but then he had made her fall asleep. People could _die_, so who cared if she was a little tired? It didn't make any sense. Boys really had no brains. None at all.

She ran along the second-floor hallway as fast as she could, starting down the stairs at full speed. She should have known better. Her pink socks were too slippery for running around the house, Lily knew they were, and she slipped on the third step and fell the rest of the way. Groaning as she landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, Lily looked over to the corner of the living room where the enchanted clock stood, the one that said the time of day as soon as you looked at it.

"Ten forty-seven," the clock recited, its voice heavy with disapproval. Somehow it knew that she had run through the house like a nutter, but Lily didn't even care. She just sighed with relief. It was not too late… not yet. Her panic fading, she stuck her tongue out at the old clock and wondered, not for the first time, how it knew she had just fallen down the stairs. It's not like it had any eyes.

"Lily!" Mum said as she and Daddy hurried out of the dining room, both looking worried… and more than a little angry. Lily sprang up quickly, smiling and trying her best to pretend that she hadn't just fallen down a flight of stairs. She hoped that if she was quick enough, her parents might not figure out what had happened.

She was not quick enough.

"What do you have to say for yourself, young lady!?" Mum demanded, looming over Lily. Ginny Potter was not a very tall woman, but when she seemed to grow to twice her size when she was angry. "How many times have I told you not to run in this house? This is not a playground!" There was more of course, much more actually, but Lily didn't listen closely. Mum had said more or less the same thing many times, and Lily could drop her head and nod guiltily in all the right places without listening closely. Instead she watched Daddy. Daddy usually left the yelling to Mum, probably because she was so good at it, but the look on his face told Lily he was nearly as angry as she had ever seen him.

"You have to be careful, Lily. You could really hurt yourself falling down the stairs like that," Daddy said at last when Mum seemed to have run out of scolding things to say, for the moment at least. He didn't sound angry, just disappointed. That made her feel far worse than all of Mum's yelling had. She dropped her head and nodded slowly. She actually did feel sorry this time. There was a long pause, and then suddenly her parents had their arms around her, hugging her tightly. They almost seemed to be _laughing_!

"I never thought I'd be glad to yell at you for running around the house like a wild animal again, Lily-Bean," Mum laughed, though she sounded like she was almost crying. Lily flinched, a sinking feeling forming in her stomach, but her parents didn't seem to notice. She certainly hadn't _meant_ to worry her parents so badly, but she'd been too much of a scaredy-cat to do any different. Well, she wasn't afraid anymore, but the sinking feeling in her stomach only grew. She had to get to Hogwarts, she knew that as surely as she'd ever known anything, but what were her parents going to do when they found she was gone... again? She flinched before firmly putting it out of her mind. This was hard enough without thinking of what her parents would do when they found out she was gone.

"If you're feeling better, maybe we can go for a walk around Godric's Hollow this morning," Daddy said, smiling down at her. "You've been in the house for too long. Maybe your mother will even let you fly her Starcatcher for a few minutes. I know you've been asking to try it for ages. Maybe you're old enough. What do you say, Ginny?"

Mum smiled faintly, but plainly she did not like the idea. Mum had never even come close to letting Lily fly the broom she had used in her Quidditch days; not any more than Daddy had to letting her use the Firebolt. She had begged them both so many times that she'd lost count, but they had always said her Nimbus K4, her _kiddie broom,_ was good enough. She had ridden on James Nimbus L7 a several times and not fallen off, not even once, but Mum had always said she was much too young too…

Suddenly it hit her. There _was_ a way to get to Hogwarts today. All she had to do was distract her parents long enough.

"That sounds great, Daddy," Lily said brightly, smiling so widely her face hurt. People always seemed to think that the wider she smiled the happier she was. Really, though, she only smiled wide to fool people. When she really was happy, she just smiled a twisted little grin and giggled uncontrollably instead of smiling wide. She was surprised no one had picked up on that. She paused and pretended to yawn loudly. "I'm a little too tired, though, so could we maybe go for a walk tonight? I thought I might take a nap until dinner. I haven't slept very well recently." Lily let her voice shake a little. She felt guilty fooling her parents like this, but she told herself that she wasn't _really_ lying. It was true, or at least partly true. She really hadn't been sleeping well recently. What did it matter if she was definitely not going back to sleep?

Daddy and Mum exchanged quick glances that she was clearly not supposed to notice. Mum gave a tiny nod and Daddy said, "Of course. We'll let you sleep, Lily-Bean. Do you maybe want to eat something before your nap? You look a little hungry."

Lily knew she most certainly did _not_ look hungry, and she wanted to put her plan into action as soon as she could. Then again, she hadn't eaten dinner the night before, and hardly anything in the last few meals before that. Sighing quietly, she let Mum take her to the kitchen and make her as many ham sandwiches as she could eat.

Maybe she had looked hungry.

Almost an hour later, she stood at the foot of her bed, ready to go. She had her warmest coat on, her warmest mittens on her hands, and her favourite pink hat on her head. Shanjavi was coiled around her left arm, muttering quietly under his breath. She could probably make out the words if she tried, but knew she was probably happier not knowing what he was saying. He had not liked her plan one bit when she'd shared it with him. It was not that he thought she should disobey Oxalion, or the _Great One_ as Shanjavi liked to call him, but he seemed sure that Oxalion must have meant for them to get to Hogwarts another way. She had tried to point out in her most reasonable good girl voice that there was no other way, but he'd been too thick-headed to believe her. Finally she had snapped and said that she was going and that was that, and that if he didn't want to come along he could stay here and wait for her to get back. That had finally shut him up, and he had crawled up her arm without another word. Well, other than the words muttered under his breath, of course, but she could pretend not to hear those and did.

Lily opened the window carefully, shivering as cold air hit her. It wasn't all that cold for December, but it was hardly a nice day for flying all the way across the country. She wasn't entirely sure where Hogwarts was, which had seemed a bit of a problem, but to her surprise Shanjavi had solved it for her when she was explaining her plan.

_I can find the castle,_ he had said quietly, still angry that they were flying. _There are snakes up there, and they will whisper the way to me on the wind._ Lily had frowned at that, wondering for a second if he was making that up. Shanjavi was certainly big-headed, but she trusted him enough to believe he wasn't kidding about this. It was too important. She had just shrugged and agreed before he had a chance to realize that, since she couldn't find Hogwarts without him, she could hardly threaten to leave him behind. Best if she was safely in the air before he figured that out.

Lily climbed out of her window easily and pulled herself onto her roof. As she made her way along the roof she frowned uncomfortably, remembering that she had promised Mum just a few months ago that she would never, ever climb onto the roof… again. Since she was a good girl, she really should have tried harder to keep her promises, but this was important. The world was in danger. Surely that was a good enough reason, wasn't it?

Crossing the roof was easy, at least mostly. She only almost fell off once, but that was because three spiders raced across the roof in front of her and she had to swallow a scream and fight to keep her balance. The spiders didn't bother her, though, they just hurried along in the other direction as fast as their creepy little legs could carry them. Lily shuddered, scolding herself angrily. If she was too scared to even face three spiders, what could she possibly hope to do at Hogwarts?

_I am Lily Potter. I must be brave._

There was an old tree near Albus's window, close enough that she probably could have jumped straight out the window to one of the branches if it were her room. She felt annoyed for a second—Al _always_ got the best of everything—before pushing the thought away and climbing down onto one of the higher branches that nearly hung close to the roof. Mum didn't like that the trees came so close to the house, but Daddy refused to have them cut down. From the arguments she had overheard when she wasn't supposed to be listening, the backyard of the house that Daddy had grown up in had been _very_ neat and tidy, and there hadn't been one tree out of place in the entire neighbourhood. Daddy seemed to want to let the backyard run wild purely on principle. That was fine with Lily. She liked things better when they were a little messy.

Halfway to the broom shed, which stood near the pond behind the house that froze during the winter, she realized there might be a problem with her plan. She should have remembered that the shed was almost always locked when her parents weren't using it, and she obviously did not have the key. She stood there in the cold, biting her nails and trying to think. She could try and "borrow" the key, but she wasn't even sure where Mum kept it. If only she'd had a wand, she could have blasted the door into a hundred little bits… if her parents hadn't protected the shed against magic that is. Sighing, she continued on, hoping dully that she might be able to come up with something when she actually reached the broom shed. Otherwise, this was going to be a very short trip and Shanjavi would say _I told you so_ so many times that she would never be able to live it down. Maybe this was important enough for her to use her magic even without a wand, the way she against the Red Tide back in London. She shuddered thinking about the one who had glared at her like he wanted to kill her. What had his name been… Lucas? She hoped she never saw him ever again.

She was so deep in thought that when she reached the shed, she didn't immediately notice something was off. When she saw the door standing open, though, her jaw dropped and she stared at it in shock. At first she thought that maybe Daddy had forgot to lock it (Mum would _never_ forget something like that), but that was before she saw the old lock lying on the ground. It looked half melted. Lily was pretty sure that Daddy had cast a few spells to protect that lock in case her brothers tried to do what she was trying to do, but those spells hadn't protected it very well. What could have possibly done something like that to the lock… and why?

_We should go quickly, _Shanjavi said in a low voice, poking his head out under the edge of her sleeve. _You do not want to meet the one who did that, Lily._

Normally, Lily would have argued and demanded to know just what he was talking about and wouldn't have moved a muscle until he told her. This time, though, she just ran into the broom shed and grab her mother's old racing broom from the back. There were a few other, slower brooms around the shed, though Daddy's Firebolt didn't seem to be around for some reason, but she didn't even think of taking one of them. Her parents were going to kill her for this anyways, so she might as well take the Starcatcher. She had always wanted to try it.

Hurrying back outside, Lily swung her leg over the broom very carefully. She knew she was good at flying—Daddy and James… everyone but Albus, really, who was just too jealous to admit it… said so—but Mum's Starcatcher was a world-class racing broom. She took a deep, slow breath and kicked off from the ground. She soared into the air with a scream that quickly turned into a laugh. This was better than she had ever imagined! She rose higher and higher, the wind whipping around her so fast that her eyes started to water, but she did not slow down. This was what flying was always meant to be. Leaning low over the broom, Lily shot north like an arrow.

Shanjavi slithered up her arm to her shoulder so he could speak practically into her ear. There was no other way she could have heard him over the wind around her. After talking back and forth, they decided it would probably be best to fly over the water for as long as she could instead of flying over land. She would just fly north along the coast until Shanjavi told her to turn inland. She didn't have a map or anything, but Shanjavi said he could guide her by listening to the wind or whatever and she took his word for it. With that decided, she stop talking and lost herself in the pure joy of flying.

The joy lasted for the first few hours, but by mid-afternoon her legs and her bum hurt, and she was colder than she could ever remember being. She was also starting to worry that flying in daylight might not have been a very good idea. True, there hadn't been much choice and the world had to be saved and all that, but she knew it was wrong for her to be out in the open like this. Wizards were supposed to be secret from muggles, after all. She did her best to fly high and keep away from the shore, but she saw several small cottages as she made her way north, and she knew some of them at least had to have people living in them. She hoped that she just looked like a big bird at the height she was flying, but Lily figured she probably shouldn't have worn her pink hat. She would have flown even higher, but she was pretty sure she would freeze to death if she did. That wouldn't help her save anyone.

_What was that back at the shed? _Lily asked at last, mostly because she was bored of flying in silence. Shanjavi didn't say anything, so she repeated herself. At last he said quietly, _The thing that opened the door for us was a very ancient and very powerful creature; the most powerful of all my kind. I did not think that any like that lived in Britain, and honestly I wish one did not. They are… unpleasant creatures. They kill and eat whatever they wish, even their serpent brothers, and listen to no one except wizards that they take as their masters and the Great One. He must have sent that one to help you, but I am glad it was long gone before you got there. If it had still been there, it would have killed you with a single look._

Lily shuddered, although she told herself firmly it was just from the cold. There were no snakes that could kill someone just by looking at them. Shanjavi was just trying to scare her. Then there was Oxalion. _Whatever you do, you will not be alone_, he had said. Well, apparently he was trying to help her by sending huge, deadly beasts to open doors for her. She had needed it, true, but she swore that the next time she saw that smug old ghost she was going to give him a piece of her mind.

Another hour passed and the sun had really started to set when Shanjavi said quietly that she should turn inland. Flying over the countryside made her ever more nervous than before, and she was sure that someone could see her no matter how high she was flying. True, she didn't see anyone standing outside and pointing up at her, but she was sure someone was watching her somehow. The only thing that made it somewhat better was that the sun was setting so she'd be harder to see, but even that nearly threw her into a panic. What if she was too late? She had to get there in time. She wasn't going to let anyone die on her watch. Not anyone.

Shanjavi quietly gave her directions to turn now and then, but most she just kept going straight until suddenly, as if by magic, the lake beside the school came into view below her. Of course, it probably _was _magic that made the lake seemed to pop out of nowhere beneath her. Lily's hands began to shake when the castle came into view, but she told herself firmly it was just the cold. _At least it's still there… for now,_ she thought quietly. The sun had just set as she reached Hogwarts, and the temperature was dropping fast._ I am not afraid, _she told herself as she guided her mother's broom downward so she could land beside the front gate. She nearly pulled off the landing, but she had never flown a broom like that before and she couldn't slow down quite fast enough. Lily hit the ground and fell over awkwardly, drawing a very unhappy hiss from Shanjavi, but she didn't break anything, so she considered it a win.

She stood slowly, brushing herself off. The gates leading to the Hogwarts grounds were open, but nothing moved as far as she could see. That they were open at all was not a good sign. She would have just flown over the walls if she had to, but the fact that they were open meant someone was already here. Whoever it was, Lily had to find a way to stop them, maybe even alone and certainly without a wand. She swallowed hard, and found she couldn't make herself walk forward through those gates.

Suddenly Shanjavi poked his head out from around her shoulder, licking the air with his tongue cautiously. He looked as scared as she was, but it made her smile anyways. No matter what, she wouldn't be alone after all. Her snake was with her.

_I am Lily Potter. I WILL be brave._

Head held high and hands perfectly still, Lily stepped through the gates.


	53. Chapter 47

Chapter 47 Return

Halo staggered out of the fireplace and immediately collapsed in a heap, his eyes squeezed shut as he tried not to vom all over the carpet… again. Whatever Sammie Weasley and his father had put into that black Floo powder to break through magical barriers, it made him feel like he'd just been spun around for an hour. He would never travel by Floo powder ever again if he could help it. Never again. Halo groaned and rolled onto his back, taking slow, deep breaths try and calm his stomach. It helped a little… maybe.

"Oh, stop being dramatic," Cassy said irritably from somewhere nearby. Halo couldn't say where exactly, since he had to keep his eyes closed. He wanted to snap back at her, but that would involve opening his mouth. He wasn't ready for that yet, so he just moaned wordlessly and flapped his arms.

"Goodness, you're pathetic," Cassy said, though she sounded more amused than irritated now. Suddenly she was beside him, hauling him up and ignoring his squawk of protest. "On your feet, _Little Bean_."

That did it at last. Halo's eyes snapped opened and, queasy stomach forgotten, he glared viciously at his sister. How he _hated_ that nickname. He couldn't stop his mother from calling him whatever she wanted—and unfortunately it was her favourite name for him—but he would _not_ let Cassy us it, especially not in front of other people. He bet no one else had _ever_ had such embarrassing nickname.

"Don't call me that," Halo growled, but Cassy just smiled at him innocently and patted his cheek as if he was _five_. He almost wanted to hit her, but instead just pulled out of her grasp and looked around. Thankfully, aside from Halo, Cassy and Albus, who was grinning like an idiot nearby, the Ravenclaw Common Room was empty. Halo let out a long sigh. No one had seen or heard his sister… well, no one but Albus anyways, and he was usually a good enough fellow to keep it to himself. Halo glared at him make sure he understood this was never to be spoken of again.

"Er, so where is everyone?" Albus said, speaking up in order to get Halo to stop glaring at him.

"Dinner," Cassy said calmly, as if she had planned the whole thing. "The common room is always empty at this time of day. Professor Clearwater made a rule last year that every Ravenclaw had to go down to dinner together. Apparently, too many of us would getting caught up in studying or reading something interesting and simply forget to go eat." Albus and Halo exchanged shocked looks, but Cassy just shrugged as if it could happen to anyone.

Shaking his head, Halo turned to look closely at the Ravenclaw common room for the first time. Before he had been sorted into Slytherin, he had always figured he would end up here. After all, his grandfather, uncle, mother and sister had all been sorted into Ravenclaw. The Boot family might have been Ravenclaws for hundreds of years for all he knew. Courtney would know all about it, of course, since she was into that sort of thing. Being Courtney, though, she would never tell him, and he would never ask.

The common room was wide and circular, with a high, domed ceiling easily forty feet above them painted with stars that glowed faintly. The windows were huge and surrounded by blue-and-bronze curtains, but it was already dark outside and Halo couldn't see anything outside the window. That was a shame, since the view was probably amazing, but then the common room itself was more than impressive enough. Just as everything in the Slytherin common room was green, everything in the Ravenclaw common room was blue. A fuzzy blue carpet covered the floor, dotted with stars just like the ceiling, and the wooden chairs, bookcases and tables were all painted blue and bronze. There certainly were a lot tables and books, Halo thought, nearly twice as many as in his own common room. Then again, that shouldn't be much of a surprise. No one liked sitting around tables and reading nearly as much as Ravenclaws.

On the far side of the room, in a little alcove away from everything, sat the marble statue of a woman. Halo thought she looked a little sad, and not all that friendly, really, as if she couldn't wait to tell on him and get him in trouble. She wore a crown, or something that looked a bit like a crown to Halo, and he wondered who she was. Someone important probably, maybe even Rowena Ravenclaw herself, but he couldn't tell for sure. He could ask his sister, of course, but Cassy might be cross with him for not knowing who she was. She got like that sometimes, although it was really quite unfair. He was only eleven after all, he couldn't be expected to know _everything_.

"We should get going before any of the others finish eating," Cassy said, glancing over at the large clock above the fireplace and frowning. "Professor Clearwater makes all the students go down to dinner, but he doesn't actually force them to eat. Some of them are so eager to get back to reading this or that that they only take a few bites and sneak back to the common room as soon as he isn't looking. Someone might come back at any moment."

Halo and Albus exchanged alarmed looks and gathered around Cassy without argument. Personally, Halo did not fancy the idea of being caught sneaking around the Ravenclaw common room, especially since there was a good chance they were already in trouble for leaving school. It was possible that no one had noticed, but Halo didn't think it was very likely that all three of them could have been gone for nearly two days without _someone_ noticing. They might be able to come up with some sort of lie to cover what they'd been up to, but it wouldn't help to be found here. It wasn't that Halo was afraid of punishment at this point; he had broken enough rules that if it came to it he was willing to accept his punishment, but he just couldn't afford to be in trouble right now. It would be hard enough as it was to convince the teachers as it was, and he didn't think getting detention would be the best way to start that conversation. Hogwarts was in danger… no the whole world was in danger, and they had to warn someone.

Cassy went first, just to make sure no one was right outside to see them leave. As soon as she waved that no one was coming, Halo and Albus hurried out of the common room as fast as they could and followed her down the tight spiral staircase the went from the Ravenclaw common room to the rest of the school below. They decided, although Albus only agreed reluctantly, that they should avoid using invisibility cloak now that they were back at school. The staircase was so narrow that anyone walking up would walk right into them, cloak or no cloak. Plus, it was supposed to be a secret, and there's no telling what might happen if Albus was caught using the cloak around Hogwarts. The professors might take it away for good, and that would be a disaster. Even so, Halo noticed that Albus held onto it tightly under his robes, ready to pull the cloak out… just in case.

The corridor was deserted when they emerged, which was a bit of a surprise. Halo recognized this as the hallway leading from the main staircase to his Transfiguration classroom, which was in the East wing of the fifth floor. It was generally a busy hallway, full of students heading to Transfiguration and Ravenclaws moving between their common room and the library, but there was no one in sight. This was one of the more crowded parts of the castle, and they had been very lucky no one had been there to see them come out. Halo hoped that luck would hold; they would need it.

"We need to tell the Professors what we learned as soon as possible," Halo said, and the others nodded their heads in agreement. The time for secrecy was past. If they couldn't convince the adults that the school would soon be threatened by the Red Tide wizards a lot of people would die. Halo still wasn't sure they actuall_y could _convince anyone, but at this point they had to try.

"We'll need to gather the others; all of them," he went on, and Cassy frowned reluctantly. The "others" including Atalanta, not to mention a few others that she didn't like much. Cassy hated admitting she needed Atalanta for anything.

"It's much harder to ignore eighteen students than three," Halo pointed out. Albus nodded eagerly, more than ready to meet up with his brother and cousins, while Cassy still seemed a bit doubtful. But eventually, the Ravenclaw in her saw the logic of it and she gave the tiniest nod.

"We should split up then," Albus said. "I'll head to the Gryffindor common room and round up anyone who's there, while Halo can do the same for the Slytherins."

"I'll head to the Great Hall and get the Ravenclaws and anyone who's at dinner," Cassy put in. "We can all meet in the library in thirty minutes to tell everyone what we learned. After that, it's straight to the Headmistress."

They all agreed and Albus raced off in the direction of the Gryffindor common room. Halo was about to head dungeons when his sister reached out and grabbed his arm, saying, "Be careful, Halo. Something seems a little off. Get to the library as quick as you can. If you and the others aren't there in half an hour, I'm coming to find you, even if I have to smash my way into the Slytherin common room."

"Cassy, I'm sure there's nothing-"

"Half an hour," repeated Cassy, then she turned and headed down towards the Great Hall without another word. Halo turned to head for his own common room, his thoughts racing

At first, he thought about food. It wasn't until Cassy had mentioned dinner that he realized he hadn't eaten in nearly two days. He should have been absolutely starving, but for some reason he felt only a little hungry. That might have something to do with the magic Narasima had used to put them to sleep. That didn't make much sense, but what else could it be? He figured that for that at least he ought to be grateful to the Sphinx. She might have cost them a whole day, but at least he wasn't so hungry he could barely stand. Well, and she also _had _saved his life, so he supposed he ought to be grateful for that too.

As he came to the end of the hall and quickly started down the staircase that led to the dungeons, careful to avoid the step in the middle that liked to vanish on the weekends, Halo's thoughts turned to what he was going to say to the others. Sam would have returned from Azkaban the day before, but she hadn't known why they'd become separated, and who knows what she might have told the others. Halo doubted that his fellow Slytherins would simply be relieved he had gotten back safe. Atalanta would be so angry at him that she would probably smack him silly for worrying her, while Courtney and Kevin would only be upset that he hadn't gotten himself locked up in Azkaban for good. Still, somehow, they were his friends. As unpleasant as they were at times, Halo was still one of them, and he trusted that all of them, even Courtney, would help him as soon as they understood the situation. No, as Halo walked through the castle, the only one he really worried about was Cleo.

There would have been no way to hide from her that he had not come back Saturday night, and who knows what she must have thought. Cleo had taken to blaming herself for everything recently, and whenever she was upset she seemed to have even less control than usual over the power raging inside of her. If she thought he and the others were dead or imprisoned, she might just be upset enough to lose control completely. If she did, it wouldn't be her fault at all, it would be his. He had promised the Headmistress and Harry Potter and everyone else that he would stay by her to make sure she didn't lose control, and then he had gone and disappeared without a trace for a whole extra day! Muttering under his breath about what an idiot he was, Halo picked up his pace and started to run in the direction of the dungeon. He had to reach Cleo before something awful happened… if it hadn't already.

Halo's footsteps echoed loudly as he reached the end of the corridor leading down to the dungeons, and that was when he first noticed the complete silence. He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts and worries that he hadn't realized that he had not seen a single person since he and the others had returned to Hogwarts. Even if it was late and most students would be at dinner, Hogwarts was never _this _empty. He should have passed at least half a dozen students hurrying off to the library to read, the Great Hall to eat, or the grounds to practice quidditch. Where _was_ everybody?

Maybe it was just the fear of the past few days talking, but Halo's thoughts immediately jumped to the very worst things he could think of. The Red Tide must have already attacked the school, and everyone was dead. But no, that didn't make any sense. There were no bodies, and if it had been the Red Tide, surely they would have already set the sky on fire already. From there, his thoughts grew even more ridiculous. The Giant Squid had attacked the castle, dragging everyone away. Unlikely. A spell had gone horribly wrong and caused everyone to vanish. Halo didn't think that was even possible, but even if it was it didn't seem at all likely either. But then, what had happened to the students? What had happened to his friends? What had happened to Cleo?

Halo ran the rest of the way to the Slytherin common room, his thoughts so muddled that he was standing in front of the sleeping portrait of Professor Slughorn before he knew it.

"_Felix Felicis._" Halo said the password urgently, desperate to get back to the common room and prove to himself that he was imagining all of it. Even if the hallways were empty, everyone might just be in their rooms for some reason. Cleo had to be up there waiting for him, she just had to be. He was supposed to be watching out for her. If he had let something happen to her by leaving her alone…

"Thieves! Scoundrels! RAGAMUFFINS!" Roared the portrait of old Professor Slughorn, jerking awake suddenly and scattering the box of crystalized pineapples that had been resting on his enormous belly. He blinked slowly, and after a moment seemed to notice Halo standing there, practically bouncing in agitation.

"Wiggins, m'boy," Slughorn said mournfully, stifling a yawn; "It's bad manners to startle a chap while-"

"_Felix Felicis,_" Halo repeated quickly, not caring right then if he was rude. The portrait grumbled audibly, but swung open all the same. Halo rushed through immediately, not even pausing to shout a quick apology over his shoulder. Normally he would have, of course, his mother had always taught him to be polite, but he was to worried to even think about it. It seemed unlikely that Cleo or anyone else would be waiting for him when the Ravenclaw common room and the hallways were deserted, but he could hope. Maybe J.B., Atalanta, Scorpius and the others would be sitting on the couches around the fire, eager to hear the story of what had really happened after they got separated from Sam in Azkaban and punch in him the arm of making them worry. Maybe Cleo would be sitting up in their room, ready to smile faintly and say she was glad he was back before dropping her eyes to the floor and falling silent again. He held onto that faint hope as hard as he could.

It made no difference.

The common room was silent and empty. Oddly, though, there was a green fire burning brightly in the fireplace, and several of the chairs and couches were covered with books and rolls of parchment, as if their owners had put them down quite suddenly. It was almost as if everyone in the common room had just stepped out and might return at any moment. That did not make Halo feel any better though, if anything the fact that everyone seemed to have been in a hurry when they vanished made it creepier. Halo, though, did not stop to look around. There was still one hope left. He raced across the empty common room and ran up the staircase to the boy's dormitory two at a time. Down the passageway he ran, past the rooms on the first floor to the spiral staircase that led to dormitories above. He quickly sprinted up that staircase as well, and did not stop to breathe or even think until he stood in front of the third-floor dormitory that he shared with Cleo. He pushed the door open without a pause and held his breath.

The light in the room were off, but the light from the passageway behind Halo was enough to see the room faintly. There had seemed little hope that Cleo would be in their room when everyone else was gone, but she was, sitting on her bed in her pyjamas. Her back was to him, and she was hugging her knees to her chest the way she did when she was upset. Halo was so relieved that she hadn't vanished like the others that he wasn't immediately able to speak. He just stood in the doorway staring at her back so hard that the rest of the room might as well have been invisible. Cleo was alright… she really was alright. For a moment, nothing else mattered.

Cleo did not react to the door opening, except to hug her knees tighter to her chest. "Go away," she said quietly, not lifting her head or turning around. "I said I wanted to be left alone."

Halo started in surprise before realizing that she must think he was someone else come to check on her. That was a little strange, since the other Slytherins tried just as hard to avoid her as the students of other houses. In fact, he couldn't remember a single time when anyone had come visit their room. Someone must have come to check her while he was gone. He would have to thank them… whoever they were.

"It's me," Halo said, wincing as soon as the words were out. He had disappeared on her and probably worried her terribly, and that was all he could think to say? He wouldn't be surprised if she ran up to him and kicked him as hard as she could. _It's me_? She deserved a much better explanation than that.

Cleo leapt to her feet and crossed the floor to him before he could work out something better to say. She stopped right in front of him, but she made no move to kick him, or do anything else for that matter. She just stood there, practically nose to nose with him, and said nothing. There were very nearly the same height, and her clear blue eyes met his gaze levelly, glinting in the light from the hallway behind him. She didn't _look_ angry. Why wasn't she angry with him? She ought to be, really. At last Halo couldn't stand it anymore, and he dropped his eyes in embarrassment.

"You promised," Cleo whispered, "You said you would be back last night." She paused, as if considering what to say, and Halo could feel her eyes still studying him, although he couldn't bring himself to meet them. "You weren't," she finished simply.

"I know," Halo said miserably, "I'm really sorry, Cleo. I would have come back sooner if I could, but there was nothing I could do. The Dementors attacked and Narasima put me to sleep and then Sammie had this Floo powder…" Halo started to babble, telling her about what had happened to him and the others in the least coherent way possible. Right around the time he was trying to describe the what it felt like to have his head appear in a fireplace in Switzerland, Cleo moved. Without warning, she stepped forward and threw her arms around him, pulling him into a hug. It was gentle and warm, not like the fierce hugs that Cassy liked to give him. It was not like them at all.

"Cleo… uh- what," Halo said weakly, not even sure what he was trying to ask. Cleo ignored him, just like she had ignored his rambling attempts to tell her what had happened to him. Instead, she turned her head to whispered quietly in his ear.

"You're back now. That's all that matters."

There were urgent questions that Halo needed answers to, but for a time he put them out of his mind and just hugged his friend. Finally, he felt like he had returned home.

"Hey, Cleo, what happened to everyone?" Halo managed to ask when she finally released him. He felt a little strange, like the wind had been knocked out of him. Odd that, since it hadn't been a hard hug at all.

"What do you mean?" Cleo asked quietly. She looked a little embarrassed at what she had done, and kept her eyes on the floor. "Nothing has happened as far as I know."

Halo explained his trip down from the Ravenclaw common room and what he suspected had happened as quickly as he could, but Cleo just shook her head.

"No one's vanished," Cleo said, turning to smile at him before dropping her eyes again. "Everyone is just up in the Great Hall. The Professors apparently had a big announcement for everyone during dinner, so they all went down together. They must still be there."

Halo blinked in surprise, and then started to laugh weakly. He must be going barking mad. Nothing terrible was happening at all, everyone was just down at dinner. This must have been how Anton Fisher had felt, imagining all those horrible things that might happen even when everything was fine. The thought made Halo shiver uncomfortably, and he pushed it away quickly. He was nothing like Sam's father. Nothing at all.

As he desperately tried to think about something, anything else, a thought suddenly occurred to him. If all the students were supposed to be down in the Great Hall for an announcement, it would be pretty obvious who wasn't there. Even if the professors hadn't noticed that Halo and the others were gone before, they would have to notice it now. But then, they weren't the only ones who were missing.

"Cleo, if everyone is supposed to be at dinner…" Halo began slowly.

"I'm not hungry," Cleo broke in stubbornly, though she refused to look at him. "Plus," she added in a flat voice, "no one wants me there."

"That's not tr-" Halo started to say, but Cleo continued in that same flat voice as if he hadn't spoken at all.

"And anyways, it doesn't matter. Winter break is only two weeks away, and I already told you I won't be coming back after that. I'm tired of this place, and I just want to go home."

Halo sighed. She was talking about _this_ again. No matter what Cleo said, he knew her well enough to know she didn't really want to leave. She was just scared; scared that her power was slipping out of control and that she would hurt someone if she stayed… most likely him. Halo couldn't even count how many times he and Rose had tried to convince Cleo to change her mind, but it hadn't worked. Still, no matter what, he was not going to give up. He would not let Cleo leave Hogwarts behind—leave _him_ behind—and go back to living alone with her Aunt. Her control got worse when she was alone. He_ would _find a way to convince her to stay… somehow.

For now, though, the only thing that came to mind was taking her out of this dark room. Cassy and Albus would be gathering the others, and he was going to be late if they didn't leave now. It would be good for Cleo to be around people. She might not exactly be friends with most of the other members of THOMAC, but at least none of them would glare and muttered nasty things under their breath just because she was there. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"C'mon Cleo, let's go. There's a meeting in the library, and the others will be waiting for us," Halo said, reaching out to gently take her hand. She pulled her hand out of his without looking at him and whispered, "You go on. I want to stay here."

Halo frowned, unsure what to do. He couldn't force her to come if she didn't want to short of dragging her all the way there, and that was out of the question. After all, he wasn't Atalanta. Still, he did _not_ want to leave her. If only she wasn't so darn stubborn. Another time he would stay and try to cheer her up, but meeting the others was too important. The professors had to be warned of the danger the school was in.

"Fine," Halo said not at all pleased to be forced to agree. "Stay here if you want. But you know, you really shouldn't just sit alone in the dark. Here, let me turn the-"

"No! Don't-" Cleo shouted as he flicked the switch up and the lights came on. Cleo _never_ shouted, and Halo was so stunned that he turned to stare at her, and so it took him a second longer than it normally would have to take in the sight of the room.

It was a complete mess. Actually, _mess _might not be strong enough to describe it. Disaster fit better. There had clearly been a fire, and the floors and walls were covered with what had to be scorch marks. The only thing that seemed to escaped the fire was Cleo's bed. Halo's own bed was a charred shell, its mattress nearly melted away. It had looked solid enough in the dark, but if he had tried to sit on it, then it surely would have collapsed under his weight. With a pang, Halo saw that his dresser and trunk had fared no better. Everything he owned, except the robes he was wearing, his wand, and whatever he had back at home in London had been burned to ash. His books, his notes, his robes… they were all gone.

Cleo must have had quite a nightmare last night.

He turned to look at her and found her watching him nervously out of the corner of her eye, tears streaming silently down her face. She looked completely miserable. Most likely she thought he would be angry with her, maybe even angry enough to say he never wanted to see her again. Well, truth be told, he was a little annoyed. After all, no one can have everything they own burn up and not be at least a little annoyed, but he could _never_ be angry enough to say he never wanted to see her again. And honestly, Halo was more annoyed with himself then he was with her. Harry Potter and the others had been afraid that something like this would happen if she was left alone, but Halo had gone off to Azkaban anyways. Darn it all, he should never had left her alone.

"Well, I never liked that bed much anyways," Halo said, keeping his voice as cheery as he could. "The mattress was a little too hard. Hopefully they'll give me a softer one next time." That wasn't really true; Halo had rather liked his bed, but Cleo looked totally miserable, and he had to say _something_.

She stared at him as if he had gone mental, so surprised that she forgot to drop her eyes and look away.

"You're not angry?" She asked quietly.

"Of course not," Halo said, keeping his voice positive and cheerful. Again that wasn't _quite_ true, but he did not want Cleo to know that. There would be no way to do his homework before Monday with all his books destroyed, and he really didn't need to be in any more trouble. But then Cleo was in the same situation. Her bed might not have burned, but her trunk and dresser and not been so lucky. All her possessions, not that she had really had many, were gone as surely as his were.

She gave him a very sceptical look and Halo knew she thought he was lying. She was quite for a long moment, before looking away and muttering, "You should be. I lost control again, and you paid the price… again. You should hate me, Halo. I burned _everything_." Cleo hissed that last word, sounding as bitter and sad as he had ever heard her. Halo couldn't stand it.

"What, you think burning some books and a couple of robes would make me hate you?" Halo asked in disbelief. "I _know_ you, Cleo. I know you didn't want to do any of this; that it isn't your fault. Is should never have left you alone. I'm sorry."

Cleo's turned to face him for just a second, and she had an expression on her face that he didn't recognize, and there was a warm light in her eyes. It wasn't the odd glow in her eyes that she had when she lost control and seemed to be in a trance, but rather a glow of joy and hope. Halo would do almost anything to make her eyes light up like that. She had suffered enough pain and sadness for a lifetime, and she was only eleven.

"You say sorry too much, even when you don't do anything wrong," Cleo said quietly, turning away from him, but not before he saw a smile form on her lips. She had said that before, but Halo didn't understand it any more now than he had then. This _was_ as much his fault for leaving her alone as it was hers, if not more. He had promised to help her keep her power under control, after all, and he had failed.

"Let's go, Cleo," Halo said, moving to stand beside her and taking her hand again. This time, she did not try to pull away. "The others are waiting for us."

Cleo was quiet for a long time, and Halo thought she was going to refuse again, but eventually she gave a little nod and, hand in hand, they walked out into the dormitory corridor. They made their way down to the common room without a word and found that it was still empty. Whatever that meeting in the Great Hall was about, it sure was taking a while. Hopefully he and Cleo wouldn't be in too much trouble for not being there, and hopefully the others would be able to get way and meet him in the library before too long. If they took too long to warn the people who needed to know, they might end up being too late.

As they left the common room behind and headed for the library, Halo began telling Cleo all about what had happened during his trip to Azkaban. Cleo said nothing as they passed through the dungeon corridors and began to climb the stairs that let out by the entrance hall. She didn't react at all, actually, and if Halo didn't know her he would have thought she wasn't even listening. It was hardly unusual for her to keep quiet, especially she had done so much talking back in their room, at least by her standards. The only time she showed any kind of reaction was when he told her how he had fallen off the side of the fortress and would have been smashed to bits if Narasima hadn't grabbed him out of the air just in time. Cleo shot him such a furious look at nearly getting himself killed that Halo moved on quickly and skipped the rest of the parts of the story that were even slightly dangerous. That, as it turned out, was most of the trip, and Halo ran out of things to say before they reached the top of the stair.

They entered the entrance hall in silence, and Halo hurried across it as quietly as he could. The double doors that led from the entrance hall to the Great Hall stood shut, but Halo would rather not be caught wandering the castle when he and Cleo supposed to be in the Great Hall with the other students. He was creeping along as quietly as he could, Cleo following behind silently, when he heard it. There was a faint sound coming from the huge front doors of the castle, which stood closed. Halo couldn't hear the sound clearly, since he was closer to the large marble staircase the led to the upper levels of the castle than he was to the door, but he could have sworn it sounded like muffled… _knocking_. What a mad thought that was. Who would be knocking on the front door of Hogwarts on a Sunday evening? Actually, who would _ever_ come knocking on the front door of a castle that was supposed to be all but impossible to find? What were he and Cleo supposed to do? There didn't seem to be anyone else around, and the knocking definitely couldn't be heard all the way in the Great Hall. Should they answer the door, or should they just walk on past?

Halo turned to Cleo, who was frowning and glancing in the direction of the door. She didn't say anything, naturally, and just gave a faint little shrug. Clearly, she was going to leave the decision up to him. Halo stood there thinking for a moment as the knocking faded away, only to begin again a few seconds later. Could it be a trap, or maybe a trick of some kind? Maybe, though Halo doubted that the Red Tide would knock before starting their attack on the castle… or whatever evil thing it was they were planning on doing. Still, someone knocking on the front door of the school was certainly odd, and he would need to be careful. Drawing his wand, more to reassure himself than with any intent to actually use it, Halo walked across the entrance hall to the front door and, taking a deep breath, pulled the front door open.

"Oh!" exclaimed a small voice that seemed to belong to a pile of coats standing just outside the front door. It took Halo a moment to realize that there was a girl inside that pile of coats, and another moment to realize that he knew her.

"Just the person I wanted to see!" Lily Potter cried happily, pushing past him into the warmth of the entrance hall. Halo could have stopped her… probably… but he was too stunned to do anything but be shoved out of her way as she entered the castle without permission for the second time that year.

"W-what are you doing here, Lily?" Halo stammered when the ability to speak finally returned to him.

Lily took off her pink hat and looked at him as if that were the stupidest question she had ever heard.

"Why, I'm here to save the world of course."


	54. Chapter 48

Chapter 48 Summons

As Halo tried to think of something to say, Lily turned away from him and gazed around the entrance hall in wonder. She looked half-frozen, and she didn't seem to be able to stop shivering, but she had a twisted little smile on her face as she took everything in, wide-eyed. Halo thought he knew how she must be feeling. After all, nearly every witch and wizard in Britain grew up dreaming about the day they would finally get to come to Hogwarts, wishing that day would come sooner. It was even worse for those with older siblings, who had to sit at home while their brothers and sisters had all sorts of adventures without them. Lily didn't seem like the kind of girl who would handle that well. Halo certainly hadn't, and he knew how hard having to wait could be. Now that Lily was here, finally, she didn't seem to be able to stop giggling.

"You know you can't just show up at Hogwarts, Lily. It isn't allowed," Halo said when he was finally able to sort out his thoughts. He tried to keep the anxiety out of his voice, but he failed. He clearly remembered the last time Lily had snuck into the castle without permission. It hadn't been all bad, since she'd been able to share her dream of the sky on fire with him, but he'd still gotten in rather a lot of trouble. The headmistress herself had given him detention and docked Slytherin 20 points... all for something that wasn't _really_ his fault at all! Lily and Evey had been the ones who broke the rules, not him, but that hadn't mattered to any of the Professors. So no, Halo was not happy to see her, whatever her reasons were. He was sure that any second one of the teachers would open the doors and walk out of the Great Hall to find Lily standing in the middle of the entrance hall giggling like a nutter and somehow decide that, somehow, it was all _his_ fault.

Lily stopped giggling and turned to face him again with a stubborn frown on her face that reminded him very much of Rose. Unlike Rose though, whose eyes usually twinkled with of mischief, Lily had a furious look that reminded him much more of Atalanta. He took a nervous step backwards without even realizing what he was doing.

"I _can't_ just show up?" Lily demanded, planting her little hands on her hips and advancing towards him menacingly. "It's not _allowed_, is it?"

"Lily, you should keep your voice-"

"I should keep my _voice_ down, should I?" Lily practically screeched, coming to a halt right in front of him. She was a good bit shorter than he was, but she was peering up at him with such a dangerous look in her eyes that he took another step backwards anyways.

"Do you have _any_ idea what I had to do to get here?" She demanded fiercely. Halo didn't have faintest idea, but he didn't say so. He could tell that this was one of those questions people asked but didn't really want an answer to. Also, he had learned from Atalanta that the only thing to do when a girl had _that_ look in her eyes was to keep quiet and look as sorry as you possibly could for whatever it was she thought you had done. He tried to make himself look very sorry indeed.

"I flew all day on Mum's broom, nearly freezing myself to death because Oxalion said someone will _die _if I didn't get here by tonight. So no, Halo Wiggins, I am _not_ going to leave. Not until everyone is safe."

Halo had no response to that, so once again he just stared at her with his mouth slightly open. Someone was going to _die_? Today? Who? And who was Oxalion? The name seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place it. Part of him wanted to keep arguing with her—the part of him that could imagine just how much trouble the two of them would be in if anyone saw her walking around the school with him—but the rest of him knew it was pointless. Not only was she every bit as stubborn as the rest of her family, but he also figured she probably knew what she was talking about. Lily could see things that nobody else could see and knew things nobody else knew, so if she said that she needed to be here or someone would die, he believed her.

Naturally, with so many important questions racing though his head and needing to be asked, Halo blurted out the least important one.

"Are you saying you _flew _all the way here? On a broom!? But Albus said your family lives in Godric's Hollow. That's… that's like 500 miles from here, isn't it?"

"Is it?" Lily said, sounding far too casual to be believable. She was also smiling her twisted smile again, and looked far too pleased her herself. Suddenly, much to Halo shock, a _snake_ poked its head out of the end of Lily's left sleeve and hissed something at her. Whatever the thing hissed, Lily didn't seem to like it very much, because she glared at it and hissed something back. Halo stayed very still, and hoped the snake wouldn't notice him. He'd known Lily could talk to snakes ever since he'd seen her talk to that snake-ghost in her dream, though he didn't understand it any better now than he had then. Halo shivered. Being able to talk to snakes was one thing, but having one hiding in your coat was something else. He didn't dislike snakes any more than he did any other animal, really, but then he didn't like any other animals… or rather they didn't like him. Halo hoped that the snake wouldn't decide it suddenly wanted to bite him. Animals _did_ do that sometimes, no matter what Cassy said.

Lily continued her unintelligible conversation with her snake for a few more seconds before it's scaly little head disappeared up her sleeve again and she glanced at Halo again, looking almost… guilty.

"I'm sorry I shouted earlier," Lily said, sounding embarrassed. She was blushing fiercely, and her face was nearly the same colour as her flaming red hair. "Shanjavi said I shouldn't have done that, and I reckon he's right. I just…" she shrugged, chewing on her right thumb nail. "It's been a long day."

Lily looked so upset that Halo couldn't have stayed mad at her even if he wanted to. He gave her a big smile, which she returned with a miserable little pout. Just like that, Halo realized that he no longer had any desire to try and make her leave. She was Albus's sister and Rose's cousin, after all, so he ought to be trying to help her. Plus, he kind of owed her for telling him that the world was in danger so he could do something to try and stop it. They had learned so much, and really it was all thanks to her. If she said the school was in danger again, well, he was just going to have to do whatever he could to stop it.

"Look, don't worry about it, okay? But we really should get out of here," Halo said, again glancing nervously towards the doors of the Great Hall. "The whole school is meeting right over there, and they might come out any minute." Lily's eyes widened at that, and she clamped her hands over her mouth. Personally, Halo didn't think that would do much good. Anyone who was listening would have heard her shouting a moment ago, and would have come running by now.

"We'll head for the library. The others should be waiting for us there, and you can tell them about your dreams," Halo said. Halo didn't add that there would be quite a lot of explaining to do, since many of his closest friends had never even heard of Lily. James had been very, _very _firm on telling as few people as possible that his little sister had been the one who'd had the dream. Everyone except Rose, Albus, Cleo, and James himself still thought that the dream had been Halo's. Halo really hadn't liked misleading to everyone like that, and now that Lily was here hopefully they could explain the truth to everyone. James probably wouldn't like it, but then James never liked anything he did.

Lily nodded in agreement, but she looked around in confusion, clearly wondering which way the library was. "It's this way," Halo said, taking Lily's hand and heading for the marble staircase. Lily nearly jumped in surprise as he took hold of her right hand, but she did not pull away. They hurried together to the bottom of the staircase where they found Cleo waiting for them, sitting on the third step and staring at her hands. Her hair covered her face, and it was impossible to tell what she might be thinking. She did not look up or say anything as they approached, but for some reason Halo quickly let go of Lily's hand. He had only taken it to show her the way, since she had never really been to the castle before… that was all. Lily gave him an odd look, but didn't say anything.

"Cleo, this is Lily Potter; Albus and James's little sister. Lily, this is Clytemnestra Lestrange, but I call her Cleo. She's my best friend."

Cleo showed no reaction to anything Halo said until that last part. At the words _best friend_, she looked up and stared at him, looking shocked. Well, so maybe he had never called her that before—or even said it aloud—but it was true. He loved his sister dearly and he hoped Rose and Albus would be his friends for life, but Cleo _was_ his best friend, and he didn't care who heard him say it.

Halo expected Lily to gasp in shock or stare at Cleo in terror the way everyone else did the first time they heard her name, but Lily just smiled cheerfully and stuck out her hand saying, "Hiya, Cleo, it's nice to meet you."

Cleo looked every bit as startled by this as she had been by what Halo had said a moment before, and she turned to look directly at Lily. That too was surprising, since she almost never made eye contact with anyone except him. She didn't move to shake Lily's hand; she just stared at the younger girl. Lily's smile turned to slight frown, and she let her hand fall. Rather than looking upset at Cleo's rudeness, though, Halo thought Lily looked as if she was trying hard to remember something. Suddenly, she gasped and sank to her knees in front of Cleo.

"It was you," she said quietly. She was shaking slightly, but this time it didn't seem to be from the cold. "You were the little girl in castle all those years ago. I… I saw you in my dreams."

A long silence greeted those words, and Halo cursed himself for not having immediately thought of this. Back in October, James had told them both the story of how Lily's dreams had started the chain of events that led to Cleo's rescue four years ago, but to be quite honest Halo hadn't thought about it in some time. Cleo, clearly, had.

"Your brother said you were the one who saved me from my mother," Cleo said, not taking her eyes from Lily's face. "I didn't know if I could really believe him, until now."

"That awful woman was your _mother_?" Lily gasped, looking horrified. "I had no idea! I thought she was a bad witch who'd kidnapped you."

"She was," Cleo said, her blue eyes cold and dead, "but she was also my mother."

Lily just nodded once and shivered again. Then suddenly she reached forward and threw her arms around the other girl. Cleo's eyes widened in surprise, but she did not push Lily away.

"I'm so glad you're safe," Lily said, sounding on the verge of tears. "I never knew what happened to you after the dreams stopped. I always hoped you'd made it out okay, and I now I know you did. I had no idea that you are at Hogwarts, or that you were friends with Halo and everyone else. I'm just so happy you're okay now."

Cleo patted Lily's back soothingly and whispered, "Thanks to you," in her ear before exchanging a quick glance with Halo. Halo knew she was thinking the same thing he was. Cleo wasn't exactly_ okay_, even now, and she was far from friends with everyone else, but Lily didn't need to know any of that. Lily was one of only a handful of people who treated Cleo like a normal person and genuinely cared what happened to her, and from the way Cleo was returning the Lily's hug she was very fond of the girl who had saved her life. There would be no talk about the death of Bellatrix Lestrange, uncontrollable fire, or Cleo leaving Hogwarts while Lily was around.

"We should go," Halo said as Cleo finally broke away from Lily's hug and dropped her eyes to the ground again. "The others are probably sick of waiting for-"

Before Halo could finish, the doors of the Great Hall opened loudly behind them. Halo's heart leapt into his throat, and as he turned around he tried desperately to think of what he was going to say. Nothing came to mind, though, that would get him and Cleo out of trouble for not being with the rest of the school, much less explain what Lily was doing there. He full expected to be given detention every day until he graduated, but the only person to walk out of the Great Hall was Cassy. Halo was relieved, at least until he saw the look on her face. She looked very worried.

"Halo! Oh thank goodness you're alright," Cassy said breathlessly, running towards him. She very likely would have liked to pull him into another one of her painful hugs, but she stopped at the bottom of the marble staircase and stared up at the two girls with Halo, looking startled.

"You're here," Cassy said to Cleo, sounding surprised. Cleo didn't reply, or even glance at Cassy, and after an awkward pause Cassy turned to study Lily and, sounding even more surprised, said, "I'm not sure who you are, but I know you're not supposed to be here, sweetie. Hogwarts isn't open to visitors, and this is a very bad time. You'll need to leave; the castle isn't safe right now."

"What do you mean the castle isn't-" Halo started to ask, alarmed, but, as had happened far too often that day, he didn't a chance to finish his sentence.

"I am Lily Luna Potter, and I do _not_ need to _leave_," Lily said, drawing herself up to her full height, such as it was, and looking as indignant as she had when Halo had said something similar. She seemed to have better control of her temper this time, though, because she didn't even come close to screeching. "I am here to save the world."

Cassy didn't seem to know quite what to make of that, and she glanced at her brother for help. Halo just shrugged and gave shook his head slightly. That was all, but Cassy understood him the way only a sibling could. Lily was going to stay, and that was that. Cassy frowned, and she fully intended to talk about this again later, but there were more urgent things to deal with first.

"Fine, whatever. Nice to meet you, Lily," she said quickly. Lily opened her mouth, possibly to ask who this bossy blonde girl was, but Cassy hurried on before she could.

"Come with me, Halo, you need to see this," she said, gesturing over her shoulder towards the Great Hall. Her brother stared at her, clearly thinking she'd gone mental, but Cassy didn't bother to explain and just set off back towards the large doors that stood slightly open. He'd see for himself soon enough. "You best come too, Lily," Cassy added before she had taken more than a few steps. "And you too… Cleo."

Cleo started at the unexpected use of her nickname. Cassy had never called her that before, and the last time they had been together Cassy had tried to get her expelled for accidentally hurting Halo. A lot had changed during their trip to Azkaban, though, and Cassy was determined to turn over a new leaf. Halo didn't think he'd ever loved his sister more than he did right then. Grinning at Cleo, who just looked confused, Halo raced to catch up to his sister.

Halo didn't know what to expect as they walked into the Great Hall, but certainly didn't expected to find the whole school sitting at the usual four long tables, one for each of the houses, seemingly fast asleep. At least, Halo thought they were all asleep. They were breathing normally enough, which Halo was relieved to see, but everyone, even the Professors at the staff table on the far side of the Great Hall, seemed to have only gotten halfway through dinner before suddenly dozing off. Many of the students were resting their heads beside plates that were only half eaten, and a few of the very unfortunate had actually fallen asleep right on top of their dinner. Without even think about it, Halo reached down to help a poor Hufflepuff girl a few years older than him whom he'd never met who'd fallen face-first onto her half-eaten baked chicken. She didn't stir as he moved her, she just snored quietly and slept on. Halo spotted Sora sitting nearby, his head gently resting beside his plate, and tried to wake his friend. Feeling slightly guilty, he shook Sora by the shoulder, and even went so far as to poke him as hard as he could in the stomach, but the boy slept on. He hadn't thought he'd be able to wake them that easily, but he had hoped. This certainly explained why the halls were empty, and why no one had gone back to their common rooms yet. It also answered the question of why no one had come to see what the commotion was all about when Lily had started yelling. There was one major question though, that finding the whole school asleep in the Great Hall did not answer. Namely, what on Earth were they going to do now? Halo turned to the others to see if they had any answers because he was fresh out.

Beside him, Cassy was looking over in the direction of the Ravenclaw table, and at her friends Tommy, Charlie and Heather in particular, with a worried and angry look on her face. She was going to make someone pay for doing this to them. Cleo was quiet as usual, but she looked concerned and kept glancing at the other students out of the corner of her eye while trying to pretend she was staring at the ground. It was a good bet that many of these students had called her names and said terrible things to her in the hallways, but she was still worried about them. That was just how she was, and it was probably what Halo liked about her most. Lily spent about one second staring around the room in disbelief before running towards the Gryffindor table as fast as she could. Halo called out after her, but she ignored him and ran straight to her brother James, who had fallen asleep beside his untouched dinner. Lily sobbed once and threw her arms around her brother, burying her head in his back and whispering quietly. Halo couldn't hear the words, but he thought he knew what they were. She was begging her brother to wake up, but he could not hear her.

"I will try and calm her down," Cleo said quietly, almost meeting Halo's eyes before moving to join Lily, who immediately threw her arms around Cleo and started sniffling. Halo stared at the two of them in amazement. Somehow, Lily seemed able to step right through the walls that Cleo built around herself to keep everyone out. Halo was glad, because Cleo could use all the friends she could get, but at the same time he couldn't help being surprised at how well the two got on, considering they had literally just met a few minutes ago. Cleo had certainly never made it that easy for _him_.

Pushing that silly thought aside, Halo hurried over to the Slytherin table, just to make sure his fellow first-years were okay. Scorpius and Kevin were sleeping peacefully, but across the table from them J.B. had managed to fall asleep in his plate of ketchup-covered meatloaf. With a grimace, Halo pulled him out of it and cleaned the boy's face off for him with a napkin. J.B. just _had _to be the one to fall on his food, didn't he? Next to J.B. lay Sam, her blue hair hiding her face. Halo was relieved to see her; there had been a nagging worry in the back of his mind that she maybe hadn't made it back from Azkaban for some reason. If only she hadn't been caught up in this. Next to Sam sat Courtney, who like J.B. had fallen face-first into a plate of peas. Halo was strongly tempted to leave her there, but after a long pause he sighed and moved her head so it lay next to her plate like the others. Even Courtney didn't deserve to be left lying like that. Still, he did not go so far as to wipe her face off with a napkin, and she had several peas stuck to her face. He would only do so much. She _was_ still Courtney after all.

Halo knew he should go back to the others, but he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of the sleeping Slytherins in front of him. Standing there, he realized something that had been growing in the back of his mind for some time. It seemed like so long ago now that the Sorting Hat had put him together with all of them. It was a bit odd, looking back, to think how upset he'd been that first night. Back then he would have done almost anything to get out of Slytherin, but now he had a hard time imagining life at Hogwarts without doing his homework by the green glow of the common room in his favourite seat beside the lake, or without J.B., Sam and Courtney trading jokes and insults over breakfast, or without the peace and quiet of the room he shared with Cleo. That was certainly the hardest to picture, because Hogwarts just wouldn't be Hogwarts for him without Cleo, but they were all important to him. _Being_ a Slytherin was important to him. How on Earth had that happened? Somehow, without trying to, they really had become a new kind of family for him away from home, just like Professor Evergreen had said they would. Sure, he had plenty of friends in other houses, and much of the time he liked them a good deal more than he did the other Slytherins. But then, you didn't always have to like someone for them to be family. Family were the people you always went back to at the end of the day; the ones you could always rely when you needed help. Halo had trusted them all with his plans and his secrets, and they hadn't let him down. J.B. was a little obnoxious, Kevin was a bit of a git, Sam was angry at everything all the time, Scorpius had to constantly be reminded that he didn't have to always be afraid, Cleo was Cleo, and Courtney… Courtney was just the worst. They were misfits, meanies and outcast, but they were _his_ misfits, meanies and outcasts.

"Don't worry," Halo whispered quietly as he finally forced himself to turn away from them. "I won't let anything happen to you lot or anyone else. Just sleep tight, okay? Cleo and I've got this."

He sounded confident enough as he said it aloud, but he didn't really feel so. He knew this was bad… _very_ bad. Halo couldn't be sure, but this felt like the first step before an attack. After all, Hogwarts strongest defence was that it had over a dozen fully qualified teachers and hundreds of eager students ready to defend it if it was ever threatened. Voldemort himself had found that out the day he finally been defeated. Right now, though, the school was practically defenceless. Lily had been right. They were going to have to save the world tonight. He just knew it.

There was one more Slytherin that Halo really need to check on, and he found her on the other end of the table, sitting between Amelia Runcorn and Destiny Udoh. Atalanta seemed to have finished her dinner quickly, or perhaps she hadn't bothered to start eating at all before everyone had fallen asleep, because her plate was empty. Halo's spirits fell when he saw her lying there asleep, even though he had expected as much. Even more than the others, Halo wished Atalanta hadn't been put caught up in this. He didn't want to have to face whatever was going to happen today without her strength, but it seemed he was going to have to.

"She looks so much… smaller when she's asleep," Cassy said, coming to join him and staring down at Atalanta. She had an odd expression on her face that Halo didn't understand, so he kept quiet. Cassy could be extremely prickly when it came to Atalanta, who she saw as both her greatest rival and person she most wanted to punch in the face. Cassy just sighed though, and muttered, "You just_ had _to take a nap, didn't you, Selwyn. I really could have used your help, just this once." She reached down and placed her hand on Atlanta's shoulder, squeezing it harder than was strictly speaking necessary.

"Just wait until you wake up and hear everything I did while you were snoring next to your plate," she said in a different tone, one that had a little forced cheeriness in it. "I'm going to save the world while you drool into your napkin. You'll see. You'll see." Cassy seemed to be trying to convince herself of that. So Cassy had realized the same thing he had**.** It was no accident that everyone had been put to _was_ going to be attacked tonight, and the four of them—well, five including Albus when they found him again—were the only ones who could do anything about it.

Cassy straightened, and she turned to glare accusingly at her brother, as if angry that he was eavesdropping on her private moment. Halo wisely stared at his fingernails so intently that he could pretend later that he he'd been so lost in thought that he hadn't heard a word his sister had said. It was nonsense, of course, Halo'd heard every word, but at least they could both pretend he hadn't.

"What should we do now?" Halo asked quietly, keeping his voice down so the others wouldn't hear how worried he was. Cleo and Lily were still over by the Gryffindor table, and Lily seemed to be checking on all her cousins. She certainly had plenty of those to keep her occupied for a while. It was not that he wanted to keep his nervousness hidden from Cleo, but he did not want to scare Lily. She seemed like a tough enough girl, but she was only nine-years-old.

"We need to tell the Ministry what's happening here," Cassy replied, just as quietly. "What you saw in your dream is going to happen tonight, and if we don't stop whatever it is there probably won't _be _a later."

Halo frowned stubbornly, but he didn't argue with her. She was right, though he did not like it. Halo didn't really trust the Ministry, not after they had tried several times to get Cleo locked away in Azkaban just for being who she was. Sure, there were some people in the Ministry that he trusted, like Minister Shacklebolt, Harry Potter, Hermione, Uncle Terry and Mr. Goldstein; but there were also many he didn't trust, like Cassius Scrimgeour and Adam Lees. Sam's Father may not think so, but Halo just _knew_ that Lees was just up to something. What if they somehow got word to the Ministry and the wrong person got the message. Would they send any help at all, or would they think it was a silly prank?

"I know it might not work, but we have to try," Cassy said when her brother didn't respond. "e need the help, Halo. Those Red Tide assholes are probably behind this, and there's no way we can take them on alone. We need fully qualified witches and wizards to deal with this, not five kids, and with the Professors asleep too we have to go to the Ministry."

Halo looked over towards the Professor's table for the first time, mostly so that his sister wouldn't see him grit his teeth as he nodded reluctantly. Cassy was right, of course, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Halo put it out of his mind though, as soon as the got a good look at the staff table. The Headmistress was fast asleep in the centre of the table, her patched hat resting shabbily on her grey hair, but while Professor Clearwater and Professor Dimock, the heads of the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff houses, were asleep on either side of her left side, but Professor Evergreen and Professor Mason were not where they usually sat on her right. All the other teachers seemed to be there, but those two were nowhere to be seen. Halo was about to mention it to his sister when he heard the door to the Great Hall open behind him again. Suddenly he heard the sound someone was running very fast, and whoever it was seemed to be moving straight towards him. He spun around, but only fast enough to catch a glimpse of red hair before something tackled him hard and sent him crashing to the ground. The wind was knocked right out of him, and whatever had hit him squeezed his chest so tight he was hardly able to breathe at all.

"Where _were_ you?" the thing squeezing him snarled in the familiar voice of Rose Weasley. "You were supposed to be back yesterday!"

"_Cnt breeth_" Halo wheezed. Rose snorted loudly, apparently not satisfied with the explanation, but she stopped squeezing him quite so hard and helped him back to his feet. She glared at him furiously, but her blue eyes sparkled with what looked like unshed tears. Halo nearly dropped his mouth open in astonishment, but he decided she _really_ wouldn't like that.

"It's a long story," Halo said, laughing weakly, careful to pretend he didn't notice how close she had been to tears.

"Oh, Al told me all about your Sphinx," Rose replied, nodding over towards Albus, who was just walking through the doors. "I meet him on my way back from detention, and he told me all about the idiotic things you lot got did without me there to watch your back. And anyways, it's still no excuse for worrying us all like that." She rubbed her eyes angrily before giving Halo another challenging glare, and he just nodded and tried to look sorry. Rose was usually far more level-headed than this, but she was clearly upset, and Halo knew better than to disagree with her when she was upset. She had a tendency to throw things… and tackle people.

Albus, still standing by the door, was folding his invisibility cloak back in his robes and hadn't looked around at the Great Hall yet. Neither, for that matter, had Rose, who seemed to have been so intent on tackling Halo that she hadn't stopped to get a proper view of where she was. Now that she had calmed down a little, she noticed the whole school sleeping around her, and her mouth fell open in shock. Her amazement only grew when Lily squealed, "Al!" and scampered over to throw her arms around her brother. It was not a hard tackle like the one Rose had given Halo, but Albus staggered all the same.

"Lily!?" Albus managed weakly, "You… how… what?"

"I'm here to save the world, Al," Lily said importantly before releasing her brother and racing over to hug Rose, who looked every bit as surprised. Just like everyone else, Albus didn't seem to have a good answer for that, so he said nothing at all. Rose, though, recovered quickly, and with an unusually serious look on her face took hold of Lily's hand.

"What happened to everyone?" Rose asked staring around her in disbelief. Lily tried to race away back to Cleo, but Rose refused to let go of her hand, much to her younger cousin's dismay. She, plainly, was not as willing as the others to let the girl run around as she pleased.

"I was hoping you could tell us," Cassy said, coming over to join them.

"Honestly, I have no idea," Rose said, looking truly bewildered. "I was in detention until about 20 minutes ago, you know, for going to Hogsmede without permission. Professor Mason told me polish all the silver in the trophy room, and he made me do it without magic!" Her nostrils flared indignantly, but she continued on quickly. "It took _forever_, and by the time I was done he had gone off somewhere. Is… is the whole school asleep in here?"

"Apparently there was supposed to be some announcement during dinner, but everyone was put to sleep instead," Halo said.

"Everyone except you, Rosie," Lily said brightly, giving her cousin a winning smile as she tried once again to pull her hand away. Rose ignored her, and her grip on Lily's hand didn't loosen at all. Lily sighed loudly, and the others ignored her.

"I thought we agreed to meet in the library," Halo said. "What made you two decide to come down here?"

"Well, there was no one in the common room, so we went to the library, but there was no one there either," Albus said, coming to join them. He kept glancing over at his sister, as if he couldn't quite believe she was there. Lily, for her part, carefully avoided meeting his eyes. "It was pretty creepy," he went on, "so we decided to see if maybe everyone was just at dinner."

"Well, you were right, Al. They are all just at dinner," Rose said, laughing nervously. No one else joined. Halo could tell Rose was afraid and trying to hide it in her own way. They all were, in a way.

Cassy frowned before opening her mouth to say something, but she never got to say whatever it was because a sudden… energy filled the air. There was no other way to describe it. It was like that feeling you get right before you shock yourself opening a door in winter. There was no shock, though, instead a voice spoke, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

"This is a message from the Red Tide to the killer known as Clytemnestra Lestrange," the voice said echoing from the walls and seeping up from the floor. "We know you escaped our little trap, and we know you are hiding in the dungeons like a rat. You have fifteen minutes to surrender to us by the shore of the lake, or we will be forced to take more drastic measures. If there is any humanity left in you at all, you will give yourself up to us and receive the punishment for your family's crimes. I know there are those you care about with in the school, I have seen it. It would be a shame if they had to pay for your crimes. Do not make anyone else die for you, Lestrange. You have fifteen minutes."

As one, they all turned to face Cleo, who was standing completely still with her eyes on the ground. Halo's felt cold inside, and he couldn't seem to think clearly. This wasn't what was supposed to happen at all. They had spent so much time chasing a conspiracy to use blood magic to set the sky on fire, and now suddenly the Red Tide wanted _Cleo_? Had they done all this just to get to her? Surely not. It didn't make any sense. She had nothing to do with this. Why couldn't everyone just leave her alone? Even worse, Halo recognized that voice. It belonged to Adam Lees, who had tried so hard to get Cleo expelled and sent to Azkaban. He had come for her, and despite everything they had done to try and uncover the truth, it hadn't been. He was too late; the trap had already been sprung.

"What are we going to do now?" Cassy asked after a long silence that none of the others were willing to break.

"_We_ are going to do nothing," Cleo said, speaking loudly and clearly and turning to face all of them. "You are going to stay here where it is safe, and I am going to go to them alone. They said they are going to take _drastic action_ if I don't, and we all know what that means. Fire. I won't let that happen; not because of me. I will surrender myself to the Red Tide." She paused, looked right at Halo and met his eyes, adding, "You have to let me do this. It's the only way."

Her eyes looked completely dead.


End file.
